Summary

You may think Chinese cuisine is healthy because it contains large amounts of vegetables and it seems to be low in fat. That's true of Traditional Chinese cuisine. However, it may not be the case of food that is served at many American-Chinese restaurants.

Introduction

Chinese food appeals to many of us because it is tasty and relatively inexpensive. We are also under the impression that Chinese cuisine is healthy, as it includes large portions of vegetables and low amounts of fat. That's true when the dishes are prepared the traditional Chinese way in China. but American-Chinese restaurants have modified their food for American tastes and as a result it is not as healthy as the traditional cuisine. Western Chinese restaurants offer appetizers, fried rice, meat rolled in butter, and sweet sauces among their 'goodies'. And, to top it all, the portions are much larger than the ones served in mainland China. That is why, if you want to eat healthy in a Chinese restaurant, you have to choose wisely.

Start by choosing a good restaurant

When you are in the mood for Chinese food, avoid the typical restaurant where you can eat as much as you want for a fixed price. Chances are you may not want to leave until you have got your money's worth. Unfortunately, if you do so, your restaurant will get the money, but you will get the calories. Instead, go to a restaurant where the waiter takes your order.

Start with a soup

A smart move when eating at a Chinese restaurant is to order a soup. Two advantages' first, less overall fat in your meal and, second, the soup broth will fill you up. This translates into eating less when the waiter brings the main course.

By starting your meal with an appetizer, you may ruin your goal of calories, carbohydrates, fat and so on. Pork ribs, egg rolls, fried wonton and any other fried foods are high in fat, sugar and calories. If the waitress brings Chinese fried noodles to keep you busy until the food is served, put them aside or ask her to remove them from the table. Instead, you can kill time while you wait for the food by drinking Chinese tea. No calories there, unless you add sugar.

Choosing the main course

When choosing the main course, look for dishes that are abundant in vegetables and have small portions of meat. You can reduce calories by choosing seafood or chicken instead of beef, pork, lamb or duck. You can also order two dishes; one that has meat as the base and one that is mainly vegetables, such as green beans or spinach and mix them.

Read the menu carefully and avoid the fattiest dishes. Some words will give you a clue: beef rolled in butter or breadcrumbs, crunchy pork and so on. Sweet and sour sauces as well as other typical sauces in Chinese cuisine are full of carbohydrate and, if you are diabetic, they can raise your blood sugar. There is also carbohydrate in the corn flour used to thicken sauces and in the ingredients used to marinate the meat. Read the small print and ask a lot of questions of the waiter.

Be careful with the rice, and reduce the salt

You know that at a Chinese restaurant, you are going to be served a big bowl of rice and, as you may be aware, rice contains many carbohydrates. Avoid fried rice and regular soy sauce to flavor it. You will otherwise end up with a lot of fat and sodium in your meal. Ask for brown rice, which is rich in fiber and if they don't have it, hold the rice. A cup of rice has at least 45 grams of carbohydrate.

Order dishes with light sauces - not too thick. If you need soy sauce, ask for the low sodium version and mix it with steam brown rice, not with fried rice. To add flavor to your meal, you can add some hot sauce; it has less sodium and fewer calories.

Final tips

If you have company, order one main dish, a soup and some rice and share. Eat with chopsticks. If you are as skilful with them as I am, they may slow you down. But don't worry because, like everything in life, it has a positive side: you will probably eat less. Don't fall into the temptation of asking for a knife and fork - you may regret it.

As for dessert, order fruit and never mind the ice-cream with sugared walnuts which, I know by experience, is hard to resist. But if you have followed the above recommendations, you will feel pretty good about having eaten a healthy meal. So why ruin it?