Kebab - calories, nutritional values. How to make a kebab?
Kebab is a traditional dish of Arabic cuisine. Although
the recipe, how to make a kebab yourself at home, is very simple,
every day in many cities, such as, for example, Warsaw , queues set up
in front of the oriental bars to try this delicacy. However, dieticians warn -
the calories it provides can be counted in thousands, and the nutritional value
of kebab leaves much to be desired. Check if the kebab is healthy, what is the
kebab from the kebap and try the recipe for a diet chicken kebab.
Kebab is a dish prepared from a meat roasted on a
spit, from which small pieces, with the addition of vegetables and sauces, are
cut after baking. The whole is wrapped in a lavash or other thin cake or served
in a thick roll. Under the name kebab, there are over a dozen varieties of this
dish. In Poland, the most popular is döner kebap (which means "rotating
baked meat"), a dish derived from the Turkish cuisine. It is meat cut from
a vertical spit (usually mutton, veal or poultry, never pork) served with salad
and sheep cheese. Although the recipe, how to make a kebab yourself
at home, is very simple, every day in many cities, such as, for example, Warsaw
, queues set up in front of the oriental bars to try this delicacy. No wonder -
for a relatively small price you can get a solid portion of meat. However,
dieticians warn - the calories that it provides, you can count in
thousands, and its nutritional value of kebab leave much to be desired.
In Poland (and not
only), in parts of the bars selling this oriental delicacy, there is a kebap
sign, not a kebab. How to explain it? The word kebab is of Arabic origin. In
turn, in Turkish, the word is pronounced and recorded with a voiceless sound,
or as a kebap (rarely as a kebab). Kebap is sold by Turks or people with Turkey
related, and kebab - Arabs and other nations, in the language of which the name
of this dish is recorded as a kebab (eg Armenians).
The most popular type of
kebap is döner kebap, which is made of mutton or chicken. In Poland, however,
it is difficult to obtain and the way mutton is often replaced by pork.
Meanwhile, a real Turkish kebap is never made of pork. In addition, a sauce
made of thick yogurt mixed with parsley is added. It is worth knowing that the
döner kebap was invented by Turkish immigrants in Germany to the taste of our
western neighbors. In Turkey, there are other types of kebap:
- adana kebap - filled with a long elbow chop made of
spicy spiced meat, grilled on the fire and served with vegetables and pita
- iskender kebap - the closest to the original - thin
slices of meat baked on a vertical grid are served on a drink accompanied
by yogurt, tomato sauce and grilled vegetables
- patlican kebap - is a meat shashlik with the addition
of grilled aubergine
- shish kebap - is a grilled skewer of mutton or poultry
meat, seasoned very spicy
In the opinion of many
amateurs of oriental cuisine, a kebab is a healthy meal, because it contains
dietary chicken meat, which is not fried, and quite a large portion of raw
vegetables. However, this does not mean that the kebab is healthy. What is
unhealthy in a kebab?
Turkish kebab is a döner kebap. Turkish dishes such as Greek
Gyros, Arabic Shawarma or Mexican Al Pastor come from the Turkish kebap.
o
meat - lamb meat is the
most common kebab, but in our country you can also choose chicken meat (most
often chosen in Poland), beef. However, in most cases it is not pure
single-species meat. Usually, you can meet huge battles with processed meat. It
is usually ground pork with beef or poultry meat. This "meat"
predominates fat of various origins and all kinds of improvers, fixatives and
flavor enhancers, for example, E621 monosodium glutamate, soy protein, E450
phosphate and E331 sodium citrate. Such meat has the form of a homogeneous
mass, no flakes of meat on the grill.
o
lavash or other thin
cake or a roll - most often it is made of not very healthy wheat flour, and
also contain enhancers
o
vegetables - there is no
guarantee that they are fresh. They often lie for days, which means they lose
their vitamins and minerals
o
sauces - they are most
often based on mayonnaise and oils
o
fries - this is a
calorific addition to kebab. There is a risk that it is fried in old,
repeatedly used oil
o
drinks - usually calorie
sodas are selected for kebab
Therefore, kebab
provides an average amount of protein and healthy nutrients, but a very large
amount of fat from meat and sauce and empty carbohydrates from dough usually
made from finely ground wheat flour.
Hello, My question is
about a kebab that you can get in many Polish bars and restaurants. Can this dish be described as
"healthy"? Many people include kebab for fast food, but is it
really true?
Agnieszka Ślusarska,
nutritionist: It all depends on how it is prepared, i.e. from what meat, what
sauces were used, what kind of pita, etc. Eg kebab consisting of "thick
dough" buns, beef, veal, vegetables (corn) canned, cucumber, tomato, white
cabbage, red cabbage, onion), mayonnaise sauce is a very caloric and unhealthy
option. Such a kebab weighs about 450 g and provides 878 kcal ,
including:
- 37 g of protein
- 43 g fat - mainly saturated)
- 83 g carbohydrates (mainly from purified flour)
- and only 5 g dietary fiber
Kebab with mutton meat
will contain even more fat and kcal, while with chicken and yoghurt sauce
significantly less fat and kcal. Certainly, such a kebab is healthier than
hamburgers or fries, where you will find a huge amount of salt, trans fat and
simple sugars. Importantly, in a kebab - in contrast to other junk food - meat
is not fried on fat, just baked, therefore it is healthier. If you give up a
white bun and order a kebab on a plate with salads and yoghurt sauce, then a
nice dish arises. However, keep everything moderate, including eating kebabs.
It is also important that the place where we buy the kebab was clean and did
not arouse your anxiety. Unfortunately, sometimes in kebab booths meat
resembles a "kebab mass", which consists of ground meat of various
origins. In such places, definitely, do not eat.
ü Kebab can be healthy and much less caloric.
However, to have one hundred percent certainty that this will be the case, you
have to prepare it yourself at home. However, it is not too time-consuming, it
takes no more than 20-30 minutes. It's enough to choose the right ingredients:
o
meat - lean (chicken, turkey),
preferably baked, boiled or grilled. Fish, such as salmon, can also be used as
well. In the vegetarian version you can use pulses and prepare falafel from chickpeas.
o
the bread can be
prepared by yourself (in the form of a tortilla or pita) from wholemeal flour.
You can also buy them - in bakeries more and more often you can find
whole-grain tortillas for kebabs
o
vegetables - you can add
the vegetables you like to your homemade kebab. You do not have to worry about
their calories, all you need to do is keep them fresh. It's best to cut them
just before putting them in a kebab. Usually, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers,
various kinds of lettuce, cabbage or olives are sent to kebabs. But they can
also be, for example, broccoli, radishes or zucchini
o
sauce - low calories
will have a garlic and yoghurt sauce (50 kcal / 100g), and a sauce prepared,
for example, from tomatoes and peppers even less. For comparison,
mayonnaise-garlic sauce, which is usually added to kuonych kebabs, in the same
portion contains 320 kcal / 100 g
o
drink - the healthiest
is still mineral water. It is worth knowing that it is common to eat a kebab
together with ajran. Ajran is a popular Turkish drink made from yoghurt and
water (in the ratio of 2: 1 or 1: 1). Usually salt is added to it, and sometimes
also pepper. It is served chilled, it can also have foam
A self-made kebab in
whole-grain bread (150 g) with a portion of vegetables, roasted chicken breast
meat and a tomato and pepper sauce is about 500 kcal.
- meat - it's best to choose poultry. It is cheaper than
beef or lamb, therefore less risk of being ground with other types of
meat. On the grill should be visible flakes of meat, if the meat has the
appearance of a homogeneous mass, most likely it is poor quality minced
meat
- bread - the least calorific choice will be a kebab in a
thin crust, preferably whole-grain.
- vegetables and salads - they should be fresh, stored in
refrigeration, and not taken out of plastic buckets or sacks for several
days.
- sauce - most of the sauces offered contain mayonnaise.
It is better to choose a sauce based on yogurt or vegetables
- additions - instead of fries, it's better to choose a
kebab on a plate with rice or noodles
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