Chinese Food Choices?

jnhu72
jnhu72 Posts: 558 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I want to go have Chinese food with my mom tomorrow at Hy-Vee (It's a grocery store in the midwest area). As a general rule if you eat Chinese food what do you get. I don't like do cheat days, so I would like to make some better choices, though I recognize Chinese food isn't exactly a health food. To give you an idea of what they have, it's like a typical buffet, except for there is no salad or desserts to choose from basically just entrees. You get 1 or 2 entrees, rice or noodles and an egg roll or 2 crab Rangoons. Thanks!

*I'm wanting to stay under 1,000 calories, so I'm not expecting it to bet super low calorie or anything*

Replies

  • Toddrific
    Toddrific Posts: 1,114 Member
    I'm visualizing the Hy-vee chinese counter, and I'm not seeing anything remotely healthy.

    Chicken w/broccoli, Mongolian beef, umm...oooh they have something like zucchini chicken.
    That doesn't seem like it would be that bad.

    If it's breaded and coated with sauce, avoid it.

    Best of luck.
  • mzjada
    mzjada Posts: 3 Member
    I usually go for the beef and broccoli dish. It's a little heavy on the sodium, so don't take too much sauce.

    Enjoy!
  • jcreazy
    jcreazy Posts: 50 Member
    Chicken and broccoli is probably your best bet if they have it, I would get steamed rice and avoid egg roll and crab Rangoon.
  • sdrawkcabynot
    sdrawkcabynot Posts: 462 Member
    Chinese buffet is my "fat boy" weakness... i cannot help with this topic but decided I would 'bump' it just to see what types of suggestions you get :)
  • jnhu72
    jnhu72 Posts: 558 Member
    Bump =)
  • Leiki
    Leiki Posts: 526 Member
    Just to let you know, Chinese buffets are death to diets (especially the cheap $10 buffets). Everything that looks healthy/ low cal is not. Plus there is sodium everywhere.

    Example: Brothy soups are usually about 50-100 calories for a 1/2 cup, right? The ones at buffets are sodium laden, and thickened with starch.

    Non breaded meats are coated with starch and pan fried, most likely.

    Veggies-- cooked with sodium and starch.

    Sauces-- sodium and starch. Or cream and butter.

    Fried egg rolls, fried wontons, fried cream cheese filled things, fried battered chicken, fried battered shrimp, fried battered beef...


    Probably safe choices

    Steamed fish is probably a good option.

    I went to one that had a Mongolian Grill bar, where they had raw meats and veggies, and you can tell the worker how you want it. Tell them to go easy on the sauce.

    Steamed seafood dishes like clams.

    Sashimi, if they have them
  • lauristewart
    lauristewart Posts: 379 Member
    Asian food is so much easier for me than Mexican!! Just say no to the rice and noodles and eat plenty of veggies and meat! Chicken and brocolli and mushrooms are my fav.....stay away from any of the carbs and you should be ok!
  • nickyrobinson
    nickyrobinson Posts: 161 Member
    Ask if they have a nutrition chart. Not all small places do. But the more people ask, the more likely they are to eventually have one.
  • michellelhartwig
    michellelhartwig Posts: 486 Member
    I'm visualizing the Hy-vee chinese counter, and I'm not seeing anything remotely healthy.

    Chicken w/broccoli, Mongolian beef, umm...oooh they have something like zucchini chicken.
    That doesn't seem like it would be that bad.

    If it's breaded and coated with sauce, avoid it.

    Best of luck.

    ^^^^This....and pepper chicken....lots fewer calories than other dishes smothered in the sweet sauces...and btw...I LOVE the HyVee buffet!!!! Perhaps a bit too much.... :)
  • littlelily613
    littlelily613 Posts: 769 Member
    I am not sure about the nutritional content of main dishes, but vegetable spring rolls are surprisingly low in calories considering they are deepfried. I never mind eating one or two of those every time I get Chinese food.
  • riskiestlavonn
    riskiestlavonn Posts: 207 Member
    I would (personally) at least skip the rice and noodles (so many calories... and it's not even that tasty).

    Also, stay away from the sweet and sour pork/ chicken. You can just tell by the color that it's unhealthy. Also, since the vast majority of Chinese food (in the US and in China), are cooked in a LOT of oil it's really hard to figure out the calorie count (even if they did produce a nutritional chart I have doubts that it would be accurate).

    GOOD LUCK!
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