600 calories or less meal: Laksania Express @ Vivocity

This was an invited food tasting session courtesy of the Singapore Health Promotion Board. 

Here's Destination No. 2:
Laksania Express at VivoCity.

If you ask me have I heard of Laksania? I have not until this invited food tasting by HPB. The other 3 food bloggers who was with me, le keju, lembu lapar and 1/2 blog makan also thought they were quite good.



I just did an online search on Laksania and realise it's part of the Secret Recipe 'empire'.
I also read that they help people who are usually shun by most people an opportunity to work. They hire mentally ill from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to work in their central kitchen.



So many kinds of laksa they have here. Did I just see Laksa Chicken Rice on the menu?
I wonder how the Myanmar Laksa taste too!




Anyway, those are not the lower calorie (less than 600 calories) meals that we were suppose to taste.
We were there to taste the Special Laksa ($4.20)

We were met by Ms Josephine Tan from Laksania. She's such a chirpy happy lady! We asked her how they did it? They did not skimp on the dried shrimps or other spices needed to prepare the gravy. They have been doing research and experimented with different kinds of coconut milk alternatives. Evaporated milk and other alternatives did not go well with many taste buds during taste tests. In the end they settled on UHT Milk. We did not ask how many percentage of fat content in the milk they used or brand. :-)

The noodles used were also different. The rice noodles had 10% of brown rice content. Healthier choice. 



We were surprised when we saw the laksa. It's quite a big bowl! The soup spoon's there for a purpose. ;-)

Can it really be only 600 calories? I asked the Health Promotion Board folks, how can I be sure it is 600 calories? They said, HPB collaborates with them and helps them count the calories.

Do you know a normal bowl of laksa this size usually has about 900 calories?
By shaving off 300 calories, it's like a 5 km run?



The above was the 'sampling size' bowl of laksa we had. HPB nutritionists' counting on the go! We were to take meals from 5 places. By giving smaller servings, we can keep to our 1800(F)/2200(M) calories requirements.

We were there for taste test, so we asked for the normal version of the same laksa. The original version with coconut milk was thicker and the laksa gravy was creamier. But comparing the two, the healthier alternative is quite promising.

I really liked the bowl of laksa. I rather eat this than other healthier alternatives. I get more satisfaction from these calories. Cockles lovers take note, this lower calorie version has no cockles ;-)


Laksania Express
VivoCity Basement 2 Kopitiam
1 Harbourfront Walk
#02-117
Singapore 098585


Note: The healthier version I was told is currently only available at the Vivocity branch.