Chinese Food- How Many Calories?

TRACYW2002
TRACYW2002 Posts: 33 Member
edited September 25 in Food and Nutrition
I ordered Chinese food for dinner tonight- shrimp with broccoli in white sauce with white rice. I had quite a few calories remaining for the day, so I thought it would be okay. When I asked the man at the Chinese restaurant if he knew how many calories there were he said "no." He told me that the white sauce is a chicken broth base?? I was wondering if the MFP is accurate when it comes to Chinese food and does anyone know if the shrimp, broccoli with white sauce is a healthier choice? Thanks :smile:

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Replies

  • nalia08
    nalia08 Posts: 252
    Chinese food is loaded with Sodium! Thats where it would be mostly hidden. I would say do the calories seperate and use an estimate if you don't know the exact. Do the white rice based on portion, was it a cup, 1.5 cups, do the shrimp, broccoli and white sauce the same. I say atleast show some calories so you do count some for the day. I hope that helps!
  • jhardenbergh
    jhardenbergh Posts: 1,035 Member
    we get chinese food all the time, we always go for the steamed chicken or shrimp with steamed vegetables, it is calorie and health wise the best thing to get. I would be cautious whenever ordering something sauced or marinated at a chinese restaurant or any restaurant for that matter. they are usually laced with sodium.
  • mustnothrowcantelopes
    mustnothrowcantelopes Posts: 116 Member
    I agree with Nalia. I got chicken with broccoli and had a hard time with and my friend, Jasmine told me to do the ingredients seperately for a more accurate reading. I'm actually surprised at some of the things I can't find in the database. A lot of the rolls for sushi go unlisted and a lot of the simpler Chinese food dishes as well.
  • ejmcam
    ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
    I don't know about calories, but I do know that most chinese foods are very high in sugars, so i bet the calorie content is high also, even if there is not a ton of fat. With that said, I am all for splurging once in a while, especially if you have the calories to spare. Its WAY to hard to stick to any diet if you don't allow yourself the occasional indulgence. It's good that you got something with unbreaded/unfried chicken and veggies though! I have been dying for chinese food myself, but I want sweet and sour chicken or general tsao's....that will use up my calories for 3 days!
  • blakgarnet
    blakgarnet Posts: 343
    I always get steamed shrimp and broccoli - I love white rice, so I just try to keep that in moderation. try to find a similar item in the database for logging!
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
    When I eat out and nutritional information isn't available I go online and search for the information. I look at several sources and try to average the numbers or go with figures that are consistent. You can figure out the rice by itself. Try to find the chicken and broccoli with white sauce. I hope this helps.
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    pretty sure I'm not touching American Chinese food ever LOL I love waaaaaaay too many fried things.
  • kalebsmama07
    kalebsmama07 Posts: 503
    calories in chinese food ....u dont wanna know...:wink: just enjoy
  • TRACYW2002
    TRACYW2002 Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks to all! This will help me out in the future. I am going to get Chinese SPARINGLY and I will have to try out the steamed vegetables- that sounds healthier.
  • joybell32
    joybell32 Posts: 252 Member
    pretty sure I'm not touching American Chinese food ever LOL I love waaaaaaay too many fried things.

    Me too! I love general tso!!! and eggrolls and crab rangoon! what a mess I'm in!
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    pretty sure I'm not touching American Chinese food ever LOL I love waaaaaaay too many fried things.

    Me too! I love general tso!!! and eggrolls and crab rangoon! what a mess I'm in!
    I know! There's just no way for me to be satisfied with anything remotely healthy there. I've just had to eliminate it completely. booo!
  • tanniew78
    tanniew78 Posts: 602 Member
    Im going to be working this week on making low cal versions of our favorite Chinese. There is already an egg roll thread.... Keep your eye out for a crab rangoon AND a couple of different popular chinese food favorites....
  • tanniew78
    tanniew78 Posts: 602 Member
    However, I did find a website with a comprehensive list of restaurant items and their nutritional info.... Pretty hair raising stuff!

    http://www.cspinet.org/nah/chinese.html
  • mariasheehan
    mariasheehan Posts: 335
    Hi there,

    Shrimp and broccoli are always a good choice, if the white sauce was broth based that doesn't sound too bad either to be honest. On Livestrong Chinese Shrimp & Broccoli In Garlic Sauce is 460 cals. AND on calorielab this dish was 560...
    Shrimp with Lobster Sauce (Marinated shrimp, black beans, chicken stock, cornstarch, egg, garlic, sesame oil, green onions, water chestnuts, white sauce, white mushrooms) (560 cals) http://calorielab.com/restaurants/pf-changs/55

    that website is excellent if your chinese food was from a restaurant chain???

    Hope this helps a little, I think you did fine.
  • pandafoo
    pandafoo Posts: 367 Member
    i'm chinese and the thought of going to a chinese restaurant scares even me! ;) the dishes are usually loaded with oil and MSG, so nowadays i far prefer cooking chinese food at home. dim sum is a good alternative because most items are steamed and there are tons of seafood choices like the shrimp dumplings.

    one of my favorite dishes to get at a typical chinese restaurant is moo shu pork - lots of veggies, lean pork, and served with homemade pancakes and hoisin sauce - some variations are topped with an egg pancake. yummy and healthier compared to other dishes!
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
    Agree with Hsinster. I'm Chinese as well and my family owns a restaurant so I know what 'it takes' to make Chinese food taste the way they do in restaurants...even white rice is bad...a bowl of white rice is like 2 scoops of ice cream or something...

    Mushu pork is the best options. Hsinster, we totally think alike!
  • krwtvl02
    krwtvl02 Posts: 31 Member
    As for myself, I love Chinese food but I know that it is loaded with sodium, especially from the carry-outs. So what I have been doing and maybe once a week, I go to Panda Express and get their panda bowl. So I was getting their noodles and black pepper chicken. Well that was fine except the noodles were 400 calories. So I exchanged it for the fried rice which was much less and kept the black pepper chicken. That has worked out great for me and I am not bloated up from the sodium nor am I feel like I'm going over my calories.

    Hope this helps! :wink:
  • TRACYW2002
    TRACYW2002 Posts: 33 Member
    http://www.cspinet.org/nah/chinese.html
    This site is very interesting
    Thanks
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