cooking oil alternatives page

[girlhk]

My family is Chinese and my mom cooks everything in canola oil. I've been trying to get her to change her oil, but she says there aren't really other alternatives, especially for chinese-cooking. She lives in Hong Kong, and readily available cooking oils are peanut, corn, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, and sesame. She refuses to use sesame oil because it's too 'heating'.

Any suggestions on what kind of oil would be good to use for chinese cooking?

[Terry H]

Any suggestions on what kind of oil would be good to use for chinese cooking?

A refined coconut oil wd.n't impart the perhaps undesirable coconut flavour, in this instance at least, and wd. be appropriate for hi-heat cooking.

[peril]

Also refined palm oil is little flavour and it good for high heat cooking. Unfortunately, palm plantations are replacing natural habitat in SE Asia, so its not a good option from an ecological view

[magicmerl]

I use Ghee for pretty much all my cooking.

[ChocoTaco369]

Ghee is the best choice if they don't want the flavor of coconut oil and palm oil, but you have to render it yourself most likely. At that point, they may as well render their own lard or tallow, and it sounds like they're too lazy to do so.

You could probably use pure olive oil (extra virgin may be too strong), avocado oil or high oleic sunflower oil (MUST be high oleic - its lipid profile is similar to olive oil's but flavorless, although it lacks the healthy phenolic content). None are ideal, but it's infinitely better than the alternatives.

I love these people that way there's "no other choice." There are dozens of choices, they just don't give a damn.

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They just started selling high oleic sunflower oil. 12g of fat out of the 14g of total fat is monounsaturated and it has next to no PUFA or SFA. Yes, it's not perfect, but it's very inexpensive and better than many alternatives. Honestly, I'd just use extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil since they're readily available, but if they're going to whine about the subtle flavor, this would be an improvement.

[girlhk]

My family lives in Hong Kong, and ghee and coconut oil are hard to find. I'm going to try looking for palm oil.

Olive oil is also readily available but is it okay for stir-frying?

[girlhk]

Ghee and coconut oil are hard to find here in Hong Kong. Olive oil is readily available as all those oils I listed, but is it okay for stir-frying?

My mom does everything by the CW book, eats low fat, avoids red meat, and only uses vegetable oil. When I advised her to change those aspects of her diet, she took out a pamphlet that the HK Government hands out about how to battle cholesterol, and said I'm telling her all the wrong things.

Ghee is the best choice if they don't want the flavor of coconut oil and palm oil, but you have to render it yourself most likely. At that point, they may as well render their own lard or tallow, and it sounds like they're too lazy to do so.

You could probably use pure olive oil (extra virgin may be too strong), avocado oil or high oleic sunflower oil (MUST be high oleic - its lipid profile is similar to olive oil's but flavorless, although it lacks the healthy phenolic content). None are ideal, but it's infinitely better than the alternatives.

I love these people that way there's "no other choice." There are dozens of choices, they just don't give a damn.

Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They just started selling high oleic sunflower oil. 12g of fat out of the 14g of total fat is monounsaturated and it has next to no PUFA or SFA. Yes, it's not perfect, but it's very inexpensive and better than many alternatives. Honestly, I'd just use extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil since they're readily available, but if they're going to whine about the subtle flavor, this would be an improvement.

[jojohaligo]

she took out a pamphlet that the HK Government hands out about how to battle cholesterol, and said I'm telling her all the wrong things.

That's because, obviously, the government cares more about her than you do.

[girlhk]

That's because, obviously, the government cares more about her than you do.

Love the humor on this forum

[magicmerl]

Ghee and coconut oil are hard to find here in Hong Kong. Olive oil is readily available as all those oils I listed, but is it okay for stir-frying?

My mom does everything by the CW book, eats low fat, avoids red meat, and only uses vegetable oil. When I advised her to change those aspects of her diet, she took out a pamphlet that the HK Government hands out about how to battle cholesterol, and said I'm telling her all the wrong things.

If you're looking for the fatty intersection between primal and CW, Olive Oil is definitely it.

And luckily, apparently it doesn't get damaged that much when you cook with it.