Lu sun chao xia ren Photo: Shen Lili

 

Holidays are synonymous with feasts. During Spring Festival, many of us had our fair share of delicious food - savory, greasy, spicy, sweet, nutritious… But after all those happy gatherings, we look down at our paunchy bellies filled with holiday feasts, prompting us to vow the age-old resolution of losing some weight in the new year. Before you get overwhelmed by the daunting task ahead of you, read on to find recipes for special dishes that will not only content your tongue, but will also help you slim down.

Zi gan lan dong gua qiu

This dish, red wax gourd balls, is simply beautiful. These pink little treasures are dyed from a simple white color to a stark fuchsia using purple cabbage juice and a bit of vinegar. Dressed up in this pleasing hue, wax gourd, also known as winter melon, takes on a splendid flavor while retaining its dietetic benefits.

Wax gourd is a diuretic and thus can help expel spare fat and water from the body. Even better, this dish is a snap to prepare, so even the busiest or most unskilled cooks can make this recipe a regular treat.

Rinse some purple cabbage and place in a food processor with some water and puree until it is like a juice. Strain the cabbage from the liquid and boil the juice for several minutes. Here comes the most exciting step: Add two small spoonfuls of dark vinegar into the juice and the color will turn rosy immediately.

Use a melon baller to make some wax gourd balls. Quickly boil the balls for two or three minutes in water. Drain and place wax gourd balls into the purple cabbage juice. Allow to cool for some time, no less than half an hour, and then sprinkle with sugar before serving. In the summertime, the dish can be chilled in the fridge and served cold for a refreshing snack.

Lu sun chao xia ren 

Asparagus, lu sun, is thought to be a blessing from the heavens as a food that helps you lose weight without fasting. This vegetable is a "negative-calorie food" and it can improve the basic metabolism of the body, allowing the system to consume more heat. Furthermore, asparagus is delicious even when you don't add lots of calories during the cooking process. The following tasty dish, asparagus with shrimp, or xia ren, will help you meet your resolution goals.

Before you get to the kitchen, be sure to choose asparagus that is fresh and tender, keeping an eye out for emerald-green stalks with dense fringe on the top and an even thickness. During prep time, cut off the bottom of the asparagus, which is often tough, and cut into 10-centimeter lengths.

As for the shrimp, remove shells and devein to make sure that the little guys will not only be cleaner, but that they will soak up more flavor.

Bring a pot of water to boil, and then add salt and oil. Blanch the asparagus (cook for about one minute, then cool the asparagus with cold water). This step ensures that this ingredient will be crispy and tender. Then boil shrimp in water until they turn red and drain.

Finally, prepare your sauce. Mix some wasabi, vinegar, sugar and salt together, and blend thoroughly. Pour mixture over the asparagus and shrimp, and toss until well blended. Before serving, add a drizzle of sesame oil and toss once more.

Xiao chao mo yu

As one of the top 10 health foods named by the World Health Organization, konjak is famous for its function of helping people lose weight, as it can easily make you feel full without taking in too much heat. Chinese people used to call this plant-based ingredient ju ruo, and mo yu is its common name. About two thousand years ago, Chinese people had already begun to widely cultivate and eat konjak.

Then it gradually spread to Japan and became popular there. Now it is said that konjak appears on the dinner table of every Japanese family nearly every day, and the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare has stipulated that cafeterias serving middle school students must have konjak on the menu. It is worth wondering whether the miracle of konjak is connected with the long lives of the Japanese people.

This dish can also be prepared in only a few very simple steps. First, clean some green beans, processed konjak (which can be bought at any Asian grocery store) and red pepper. Slice the konjak and dice the red pepper into small pieces. Then peel some garlic.

Boil the sliced konjak in water for five minutes to remove its special smell, then cool it by pouring cold water over it. Next, boil the green beans for two minutes to remove their raw smell and drain them.

After heating a wok, stir-fry the garlic on a high flame. Add the konjak and stir rapidly, and then add the green beans. Combine some vinegar, salt and sugar, and add to wok, stirring all the while. Pour in half a bowl of water and boil for three minutes. Add red pepper, stir and turn off flame. Serve immediately.

No matter what weight-loss method you use, remember these golden principles: eat slowly to chew fully; stop eating three hours before going to bed; and control your intake of staple foods and sweets.