Unlike white rice that has undergone a refining process, wholegrain brown rice has its outer-layer bran and inner-layer germ attached, which provide us with significantly more fibre, B vitamins and iron.

Squid is low in fat but high in cholesterol.

Every 100g of squid will provide only 1.4g of fat but 233mg of cholesterol. Someone who has cholesterol problems should try and keep cholesterol intake to below 200mg a day.

Squid is, however, a good source of protein, copper, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin B12.

Hence, if eaten in moderation, squid can be part of a healthy balanced diet.

The prawn stock in this recipe would also contain cholesterol and the amount depends on how many prawns are used.

There is limited information on the cholesterol content of prawn stock.

Furthermore, prawn stock that uses the head of prawns will contain more cholesterol.

You can reduce the cholesterol in this recipe by using less squid and replace the prawn stock, especially if it is made with prawn heads, with vegetable or fish stock.

You can also add more vegetables such as carrots or different-coloured capsicums to enhance the appearance as well as to increase the fibre intake.

The salt content can be reduced if other spices are included in the dish.

Using medium-sized prawns instead of large ones may help to reduce the sodium as well as cholesterol intake as prawns are a sodium- and cholesterol-rich food.

Each 100g of large prawns has 175mg of sodium, while it is 68mg for medium-sized prawns.

The average large prawn weighs 37g and the average medium-sized prawn weighs 10g.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

(Per Serve - 347g)

Energy: 398kcal

Protein: 24g

Total fat: 7.9g

Saturated fat: 3.4g

Dietary fibre: 3.5g

Carbohydrate: 54.7g

Cholesterol: 224.5mg

Sodium: 944.4mg

Bibi Chia

Principal dietitian, Raffles Diabetes & Endocrine Centre.