Chinese Food

get your dish steamed with sauce on the side, brown rice rather than white

yep! i always opt for shrimp and broccoli personally.
i don't usually get rice, but if you love it, brown is a wiser choice.

I used to get steamed dumplings (about 8) with a side of steamed brown (half a pint) rice and broccoli (also half a pint)

Chinese resteraunts are a minefield. I'd be biting the bullet and just counting it as a cheat and picking what I wanted.

Otherwise broth based soups are probably your best bet, or seeing of they can do stir fry with sauce on the side

absolutely agree. when i am eating chinese, i want to eat everything that makes me happy...general tso's chicken, lo mein, crab rangoons, etc...so i would consider that a cheat meal...which you can have like once every week or two weeks, right? last time i went to a chinese buffet, they did have sauteed boy choy and it was so delicious...tasted a little garlicy. i bet that was pretty good for you. also, those little thin rice noodles...those are so good and i bet they aren't as bad for you as the lo mein noodles. won ton soup doesn't seem too unhealthy, but is probably packed with sodium. ****, now i'm craving chinese food. why did i look at this thread? lol

yummmm, i love dumplings.

Uh - it depends on what kind of Chinese restaurant you're going to, right? If you're going to a place that's equivalent to Panda Express, it's going to be difficult to find stuff that's delicious and nutritious. However... the better quality Chinese restaurant that you go to, the more likely you'll get more healthy options.

If you're going to a legit Chinese restaurant (which if they're serving sushi... I'm assuming it isn't), there should be some seafood options. Get the stuff that has a sauce that seems most nutritionally sound (i.e. soy sauce based sauces or something) and ask them whether you can get your fish/shrimp/scallops/whatever steamed and without breading. They'll usually do it for you.

However, if you're not going to a place like I mention above, I would suggest going for vegetarian options like... "Spicy Eggplant" or some such equivalent... you're just going to be ingesting a lot of sodium that day. *shrug*

Honestly, when you read the menu, you'll know which options might be safe and which options aren't. Make smart choices! Good luck!

Unless it's Chinese food you're making yourself, there's little that's healthy at restaurants. Definitely delicious, but healthy is a long shot. If you eat in small moderation, it won't make a huge difference, but be careful.

There is a Chinese restaurant here that is all organic, serves chicken and fish but no mammal meat. Has a number of seitan and tofu options. And doesn't use MSG. It's pretty healthy, not a lot filler or sugar in sauces. (Still salty, of course). Plenty of things steamed or cooked in broth. I think you can find such places in most communities that have larger Asian populations. You just need to look into it. And your usual take out place isn't going to have such things.