By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Winter is a time to curl up with book and wait for the freezing season to go by. It is also a time for snacks. Unlike summer, where ice creams or cold sodas make up most of the snacks we consume, winter has variety of steamy snacks sold at street venders and convenient stores that help warm up the cold winter nights.
However, experts say these snacks are quite high in calorie content and careless consumption may lead to easily putting on several kilograms.
Kim Ha-jin, a diet expert, said winter is a perfect time to gain weight and worsen you health status. ``People tend to not eat as much fruit and vegetables or drink as much water during this time. Green tea and foods that are abundant in fiber and vitamins will help balance the body,'' he said.
But still, a snack of red bean buns, broiled rice cake with red pepper sauce, or a cup of cocoa is a risky temptation. You may want to calculate snack calories when you eat popular winter snacks in Korea.
Around this time of the year, streets are filled with venders baking hot bread snacks ― ones shaped like a goldfish or flower, or ones filled with eggs or creamed red bean. Though they do not look too fatty because as are not fried, they still are high in calories ― a ``goldfish bread'' cake has 100-120 calories while an ``egg bread'' has 130 kilocalories. This means eating two or three at a time can easily be the equivalent of eating a meal.
Steamed bread filled with red bean or vegetables have about 200-250 calories per serving. Fried pancakes also have 260 calories.
Fried fish cakes sold on streets in soup contain around 100-150 calories. Tteokbokki ― broiled rice cake with red pepper sauce, goes well with the fish cakes. Although it may seem like a small snack, the combination can add up to 230 calories per 100 grams.
Red bean soup or zucchini soup are enjoyed by dieters because it gives them the impression that such vegetable-based dish wouldn't be as fatty. Although they are healthy alternatives, they still contain 270 calories and 230 calories per 200 grams, respectively.
Those who like to drink hot beverages to warm up should take into account that such drinks as Citron tea, nut tea and cocoa have 70, 100 and 120 calories, respectively.
Of course these numbers aren't that high, but you should remember that these snacks are eaten in addition to our regular meals.