Best Chinese Food Choice

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gillis1118
gillis1118 Posts: 51 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am eating Chinese food tonight - What is the best entrée to get?
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  • Derek_McC
    Derek_McC Posts: 63 Member
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    Shrimp and vegetables with sauce on the side. Then just dip the shrimp/veg to get a little bit of the taste of the sauce. This is working for me right now. I would love to hear the suggestions of others also.
  • dkabambe
    dkabambe Posts: 544 Member
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    Chinese is always a difficult one - obviously avoid the fried ("crispy") stuff. Soup (wonton or seafood soup maybe) would probably be good for an entree? Otherwise steamed vegetable dumplings (avoid meat versions to keep calories down)?
  • rummyqueen
    rummyqueen Posts: 150 Member
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    Sorry I don't eat Chinese food , they put to much soy sauce when they cook it and tons of salt , sushi or sashimi are great ,
  • BrettWithPKU
    BrettWithPKU Posts: 575 Member
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    If you have a lot of weight to lose, eating "too much" (more so than eating the wrong things) is the problem. I'd say order anything you want but watch out for the portion size.

    If you don't have much to lose, THEN focus on eating the right things; go for anything vegetable-heavy with minimal sauce.
  • desidelay
    desidelay Posts: 17 Member
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    Most Chinese food places have a section called "diet dishes" where the meat and veggies are steamed and they have the sauce on the side.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Ask the waiter/waitress. There are things that are not on the menu for people on special diets. You can say you are on a low sodium or a low fat diet. They could possibly offer you a plate of steamed veggies with shrimp.
    The reason they are not on the menu may be because they "lack taste".
  • LINIA
    LINIA Posts: 1,046 Member
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    I think I may have learned this here, just say to the server " no flour, no cornstarch, no sugar" and then order your favorite. The Asian restaurants are accustomed to hearing this and adjust nicely. I get double veggies, no rice or noodles but that part is up to you. Some people also request " no msg".
    Usually I end up with a great stir-fry full of lovely vegetables, it's always sensational!

    Good Luck and Enjoy your evening.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Chinese food is often very high in sodium. If your doctor has told you to watch this, make sure you make it clear to the waitress.
    I found these sites (short reading) on tips how to order Chinese food:
    http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/DiningOut/Tips-for-Eating-Chinese-Food_UCM_308402_Article.jsp#.V5tMtbgrJAg and
    http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/food/article/best-and-worst-chinese-foods
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    dkabambe wrote: »
    Chinese is always a difficult one - obviously avoid the fried ("crispy") stuff. Soup (wonton or seafood soup maybe) would probably be good for an entree? Otherwise steamed vegetable dumplings (avoid meat versions to keep calories down)?

    AMERICAN chinese is difficult.

    I typically get beef and broccoli, or shrimp and broccoli. And ask for sauce on the side if I get anything else.
  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    You have a choice to make. You could get what you want, eat it all, and possibly blow your deficit for the day or even two days. You could fast and eat light during the day, eat what you want, and MAYBE stay in a deficit for the day. You could order what you want, eat half. You can get a plate of steamed sadness and really stay in a deficit.

    Sometimes I go for steamed sadness but that's usually when I NEED to hit my goal for the day but am too tired to cook, not when I really want Chinese food.

    Totally agreed. Just as there are no good diet pizza or diet potato chip options, there aren't good diet Chinese options.

    If you just want food that happens to be Chinese because it's convenient, get steamed vegetables and steamed chicken and cry at the lost potential. If you want Chinese food because that's what you're craving, then get the dishes you want, eat them, and budget your weekly calories accordingly to make up the excess.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    dkabambe wrote: »
    Chinese is always a difficult one - obviously avoid the fried ("crispy") stuff. Soup (wonton or seafood soup maybe) would probably be good for an entree? Otherwise steamed vegetable dumplings (avoid meat versions to keep calories down)?

    AMERICAN chinese is difficult.

    I typically get beef and broccoli, or shrimp and broccoli. And ask for sauce on the side if I get anything else.

    This, as American-style Chinese is often fried in a lot of grease and full of sugars.

    If it's like a local buffet-style chinese/japanese restaurant I go to, they should offer steamed rice, steamed veggies and soups [maybe sushi depending on the restaurant]. Hot & Sour soup is one of my faves, and it's mainly chicken broth, tofu and various veggies. If they don't, the next best thing is a dish that doesn't fry the meat in a batter [avoid things like sesame chicken, general tso chicken, etc]. Seafood is preferred. Most sushi is fairly healthy, but be wary of tempura sushi and sushi with sauces on them, as the sauce may be full of calories.
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
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    Just order what you want and say "steamed" instead of "fried"!
  • Mentali
    Mentali Posts: 352 Member
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    BDonjon wrote: »
    If you have a lot of weight to lose, eating "too much" (more so than eating the wrong things) is the problem. I'd say order anything you want but watch out for the portion size.

    If you don't have much to lose, THEN focus on eating the right things; go for anything vegetable-heavy with minimal sauce.

    I think the question is that many of the sauces and dishes do not lend themselves to easy analysis, so the question is "which meals are reasonable in the matter of caloric density". The right thing is the thing that won't ruin a deficit at a reasonable portion, and the "wrong things" are the things where you crush 1200 calories in deep fried sticky sweet sodium-filled deliciousness.

    Now I want Chinese food...
  • 294Rich
    294Rich Posts: 171 Member
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    I always go for Chicken Fu Yung - it's just an omelette really...
  • tracymayo1
    tracymayo1 Posts: 445 Member
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    xvolution wrote: »
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    dkabambe wrote: »
    Chinese is always a difficult one - obviously avoid the fried ("crispy") stuff. Soup (wonton or seafood soup maybe) would probably be good for an entree? Otherwise steamed vegetable dumplings (avoid meat versions to keep calories down)?

    AMERICAN chinese is difficult.

    *snip*
    Most sushi is fairly healthy, but be wary of tempura sushi and sushi with sauces on them, as the sauce may be full of calories.

    Isn't the rice in sushi not so good?
    Every now and then we go to an all you can eat sushi place here at work (Kanda) and I never know how to log it...
  • llaurenmarie
    llaurenmarie Posts: 1,260 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Sort of related: Most entries I see for egg rolls are around 250 calories. Does that really seem right for something deep fried? (and amazing)

    Also, I like steamed broccoli and shrimp. Still love the white rice. I don't even really care for the sauce.
  • G8rRay
    G8rRay Posts: 89 Member
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    I've found that soy sauce (think, "sodium") causes me to gain water weight that takes, at least, 3 days to drop; just overeating one meal, only lasts about a day. So, based upon my experience, eat what, and as much as, you want; tomorrow, resume your dieting. An occasional indulgence will be very temporary. ["Occasional" means a few times per year, not a few times per week (or per day).] So, my answer is just to avoid soy sauce and other sources of high sodium content foods.
  • etherial1
    etherial1 Posts: 22 Member
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    Considering you're low carb, have the paper-wrapped chicken, wor won ton soup, shrimp with asparagus, and/or steamed chicken with green onion and ginger. You can even have roast duck, or mushu pork, chicken, or beef. Just toss the pancakes and sauce!

    Bon Appetizer!
  • Erfw7471
    Erfw7471 Posts: 242 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Sometimes I go for steamed sadness but that's usually when I NEED to hit my goal for the day but am too tired to cook, not when I really want Chinese food.

    Lol!! I was just coming in here to say steamed chicken & vegetables

    OP, sauce on the side for sure - indulge a little if you've adjusted cals for it, or something steamed if you need to be stricter. Sometimes, if the restaurant I'm going to doesn't have nutrition listed I look on other restaurant sites to get an idea of what a particular dish might be.

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