4 Delicious Healthy Brown Rice Bowls to Look Out for at More Than 30 Eateries!

In a bid to introduce wholegrain into our everyday lives, Health Promotion Board has collaborated with various F&B partners in a project called the Healthy Bowl Campaign, to incorporate healthy rice bowls into their menus.

Health Promotion Board has come up with four different wholegrain rice bowl recipes that meet the Healthier Dining Programme (HDP) guidelines as they are higher in wholegrains and are all less than 600 calories. The available flavours are Chicken, Vegetarian, Salmon, and Turkey.

For each F&B partner that signs up to offer these healthy rice bowls, Chef Johnathan will go down to the partners’ kitchens to teach them how to make each rice bowl from scratch. Partners can adopt the recipes completely, or tweak them before adding them to their menus. Partners must ensure that the tweaked dishes still abide to the HDP nutrient guidelines, which aims to help consumers manage their daily calorie intake.

Why eat wholegrains? Wholegrains are rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals and various phytochemicals (beneficial plant substances). Eating wholegrains can also help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diab​​etes​, while assisting in weight management​ as they make you feel full faster.

The participating F&B partners can also apply for the Healthier Dining Innovation (HDI) grant of $5,000 to purchase the wholegrain rice needed to test out the new dishes at their restaurants. However, they would have to meet a certain requirement first, in order to qualify for the grant. The partner either has to have a catering license, or two outlets with an online ordering platform, or three physical outlets.

However, even if they don’t meet the requirements, they will still be able to purchase Naturel products (e.g. wholegrain rice, healthier oil) at a special price for this campaign!

The partners that will be adding the healthy bowls into their menu so far are:
– Ahmad Power Nasi Ayam
– Asia Food Cafeteria
– Caffe Pralet
– Deja Brew
– Gim Tim
– Huggs Coffee
– Imperial Court
– Kei Kaisendon
– Qian Xi Group
– Sunray Cafe
– Tim Delight

During a tasting session, we tried a few of the dishes that have already been rolled out in certain F&B establishments, or are currently in the testing stages.

First up was the “Nasi Ayam” (healthier version) that Ahmad Power Nasi Ayam had developed. The Chicken rice bowl came with steamed chicken, honey & apple cider vinegar salad, and brown rice. A slice of green apple replaced the usual cucumber and I thought that the tartness it brought to the rice was intriguing, and I quite liked it. The rice was lightly flavoured, so it was still tasty. The steamed chicken was cooked well, and tasted fresh and firm. The honey & apple cider vinegar salad is a refreshing addition that will, no doubt, tickle your tastebuds.

Next up was the Vegetarian rice bowl by Caffe Pralet, which is already up on their menu! The rice is decorated with a medley of vibrant vegetables such as red cabbage, bell pepper and iceberg lettuce, that not only brings a pop of colour to the dish, but also a burst of flavours. The fresh vegetables add a natural sweetness to the bowl. A shout out to all vegetarians – definitely have this if you’re looking for something light, yet yummy.

The Salmon rice bowl from Gim Tim was calling out to me the moment I laid eyes on it. Baked salmon and a homemade miso sauce? Who could say no to that? The miso was on the slightly sweeter side, and paired really well with the salmon. As the salmon was baked, it had a crisp skin, which was just lovely. I liked this healthy bowl the best!

As the awareness for healthy living increases, the number of healthier alternatives available in the market increases as well. There’s even healthier ice cream that is lower in sugar!

Woah! sells protein ice cream which comes in 3 flavours. All available flavours are under 200 calories per serving. My personal favourite was the chocolate ice cream. The ice cream wasn’t too sweet, and filled with premium dark chocolate. It was invigorating, and as gratifying as a usual scoop of my favourite ice cream is, but, with added protein.

Sunray Cafe and Huggs Coffee, who have already started selling the healthy rice bowls for a while now, said that the bowls have been well received by their customers so far (especially the salmon bowl). Not only are the bowls tasty, they are not difficult to prepare. For Sunray Cafe, their sales have increased since adding the healthy rice bowls to their menu. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?

Should this campaign be successful, Health Promotion Board will be coming up with more tasty HDP-approved recipes for F&B partners to incorporate into their menus. This means more nutritious and delicious choices for you and me. Tasty food can be healthier too!

Check out the list of HPB’s Healthier Dining Programme Partners at www.hpb.gov.sg/hdp. 

The Healthy Rice Bowls are available at the following outlets:

1. Sunray Café – 1 outlet (www.sunray.sg)

Address: 79 Brighton Crescent, Singapore 559218

2. Caffe Pralet – 1 outlet (www.caffepralet.com.sg)  

Address: 17 Eng Hoon St, #01-04 Eng Hoon Mansions, Singapore 169767

3. Deja Brew – 1 outlet (www.dejabrew.com.sg )

Address: 1 Straits Boulevard, #01-02 Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, Singapore 018906

4. Huggs Epigram @ URA (www.huggscoffee.com)

Address: 45 Maxwell Rd, #01-01 The URA Centre, Singapore 069118

5. Huggs @ OUE Downtown (www.huggscoffee.com)

Address: 6 Shenton Way, Level 30 OUE Downtown Two, Singapore 068809

 Coming in 2020:

1. Asia Food Cafeteria – 7 outlets
2. Gim Tim – 1 outlet (www.gimtim.com.sg)

Address: Blk 157, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 #01-546 Singapore 560157

3. Imperial Court – 1 outlet

Address: 190 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, #03-01 The Grassroots’ Club, Singapore 568046

4. Tim Delight – 1 outlet (www.timdelight.com)
5. Qian Xi Restaurant – 10 outlets (www.qianxi.com.sg/)
6. Kei Kaisendon – 5 outlets (www.keikaisendon.com/#findus)
7. Ahmad Power Nasi Ayam – 1 outlet

Address: Blk 285 Yishun Ave 6 #01-02, Singapore 760285

Woah! Protein Lower Sugar Ice Cream are available at:

Outlets

Marina One, 5 Straits View #B2-17 (Marina One The Heart)

Raffles Place, 5 Raffles place, #B1-19 (Raffles Place MRT Xchange)

 Also found at

Supermarkets – Ecellente at Capitol Piazza, RedMan at Bedok Heartbeat

Online – WoahGroup, Redmart, Shopee & Qoo10

For F&B operators who are interested to participate in the Healthy Bowl Campaign, please contact:

Ambassador – Healthy Bowl Campaign

Tel: +65 6372 8825 | 8826 | 8827

WhatsApp: +65 8588 7808

Email: info@theplanneraffairs.com.sg

This post was brought to you by Health Promotion Board.

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You may also wish to check out our article on where can you find delicious wholemeal baked goods in Singapore!