Asian cuisine tends to be very healthy as there is an emphasis on vegetables, and meat is not usually the focus of the meal. Americanized Asian cuisine, such as Chinese food, is unfortunately much less healthy, as flavor is the first consideration. Chinese restaurant menus are laden with salty, heavy sauces and fried items. However, there are still plenty of healthy items to choose from to keep the calories and fat under control. Cutting back on the sodium is more difficult, so keep an eye on portion sizes.
Appetizers and Beverages
Ditch the traditional, fat and calorie-laden egg rolls and replace them instead with steamed spring rolls or steamed dumplings. Choose hot and sour, miso and wonton soups as tasty, low-calorie, flavorful starters in place of deep-fried tempura or crispy wontons. Beverages are no problem at Chinese restaurants. Most establishments offer a wide variety of hot and iced teas.
Main Fare
Choose stir-fried, steamed, roasted and/or broiled entrees such as shrimp or chicken chow mein, chop suey, beef and broccoli, Hunan chicken or tofu with vegetables. Another healthful option is steamed or baked tofu (watch out for the fried version). Sauces add loads of flavor but can pile on the calories and salt. Instead of coconut milk, regular sweet and sour sauce and regular soy sauce try ponzu sauce, rice-wine vinegar, spicy wasabi, ginger, low-sodium soy sauce and/or plum sauce (high sodium). Though most Chinese restaurants have phased out the monosodium glutamate (MSG) feel free to specify "no MSG please."
Sides, Vegetables and Desserts
Fried rice might be tasty, but even a modest serving size is a diet disaster. Replace it with steamed white rice or even better, steamed brown rice (if available). Brown rice offers more dietary fiber than its white counterpart. Other healthy veggie-based side dishes that are diet friendly include steamed edamame, cucumber salad and stir-fried veggies (such as broccoli and watercress). Order steamed vegetables as they aren't stir-fried with oil. Finish your meal with a fortune cookie instead of an almond cookie.
Member Comments
pinkisbest May 1
This article seems to mix up Chinese and Japanese food (miso, wasabi etc). And Chinese food as a whole is not Americanized Asian food.