Healthy Chinese food...does it exist?

If I'm going out to chinese, what's the best options to order? Everything seems to be so salty and greasy...

I think I'd totally treat Chinese as a splurge.

actually if you order steamed veggies and chicken its pretty healthy.  You can use the borwn sauce to flavor, on the side, and order brown rice too!

sure it does. i always order steamed white meat chicken with either broccoli or a medley of vegetables with no brown sauce. can't get much healthier than that

Soups (Hot and Sour or wonton) and steamed dumplings might also be good choices. 

Steamed veggies and rice are the best choice for low fat, but you might do better on calories with a soup.

 

Steamed Veggy dumplings with out the sauce is not so bad in calories. 

you can get away from the grease by ordering steamed rice instead of fried, and choose steamed or grilled entrees.

Salt? You can't get away from that. You can order it without sauce, but then whats the point of chinese food! lol

You can make steamed veg and brown rice at home to keep the sodium down .. but then it's not really a treat imo.

I second the soup. High in sodium, but you can get lots of fresh veg and lean meats added for a lower calorie meal.

 

Yes! I always order steamed chicken with mixed vegetables w/ brown rice and brown sauce on the side... i love it!

Original Post by jenny8484:

Yes! I always order steamed chicken with mixed vegetables w/ brown rice and brown sauce on the side... i love it!

I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I would never order that because I could make that at home for half the price.

If I'm getting chinese food at a restaurant, I'm ordering that greasy sloppy goodness I can't replicate in my kitchen lol

I'm with dm84. The really good restaurant Chinese food is way to high in calories not to be a cheat meal. If you want healthy Chinese style food, make it at home. Ordering steamed veggies in a restaurant is seriously boring. You can have that any time for much less money.

 

 

Chinese food is generally high calorie (with some exceptions), but the key is also portion control. Try to get steamed foods instead of fried.

everything that is gonna be really "chinese" is going to be higher in calories, BUT you could order like chicken and brocolli with rice, and only eat the rice sparingly. That really shouldn't be too bad....I wouldn't think at least. You would go wrong wiht like fried sesame chicken and sweet and sour chicken. (my favorite)...

also make sure you drink a bunch of water...well not too much, just stay hydrated. Chinese food is packed with msg, and it makes me super thirsty especially when dieting and im not used to it!

It does exist in home cooking, but chinese people like their 'going out' food to be quite rich. To counteract that, they eat just a little bit of the rich, salty food and a lot of rice. Also, chinese families tend to order big bowls of rice and different dishes for the whole table to share, so if you do it that way you can fill up on soups and stir fries (with rice on the side, not fried) but still get to taste a little bit of all the rich stuff. The only thing I'd stay away from completely is duck, which is about 50% fat.

One restaurant dish that's healthy and delicious but still very chinese is to order a whole steamed fish, stuffed and covered with herbs and spices. It looks very impressive when it arrives at the table, too.

Then again, what's wrong with a just-plain-treat every now and then?

I just came across this recipe for Spicy Orange Chicken Lo Mein while looking for something TOTALLY different (cake recipe)

It 550 calories, 11 grams of fat for a serving. Not too bad for a dinner and you could probably get it lower than that by using less nooldes or meat and more veggies.

Steamed Veggies &/or Chicken &/or Fish!! ---> That's about it though!

 

My parents are Asian and I spent a good portion of my childhood living in Hong Kong. I gotta say - for the most part, Chinese food IS healthy.....American-Chinese food is the problem.

A lot of stuff that's considered Chinese food here doesn't even exist back in Asia....we don't bread things and fry them, and then cover them with sugary sauces.

Asians actually eat a diet that is filled with lots of veggies and tofu, and sparse amounts of meat. True, we love rice - but it's steamed and plain, generally not fried with meat and sauce (although, we do eat fried rice, but that tends to be an entire meal in and of itself, not something we eat with other dishes)...Most dishes are sauteed at a really high temp, using a bit of oil and water to keep things from burning.

Stay away from anything with sweet and sour sauce, or any meats that have been breaded and fried (usually things like sweet and sour chicken/pork, General Tso's anything etc. etc.) and try and order dishes that are mainly veggie based. That will help you get the "taste" with fewer calories.

Drinking hot tea helps cut down on the grease factor, as well as the sodium.

I will admit that although I love a good authentic Chinese meal, I have been known to breakdown and eat all kinds of nasty American-Chinese food at a buffet in moments of weakness. There's just something about things like eggrolls and sweet and sour chicken balls that have appeal :)

i love love orange/general tso chicken! i eat it more than once a week hahaha it is so worth it!

100% agreeing with you on that, fitness freak. many people don't know that the "chinese" food they're eating isn't really chinese. i had never heard of general tso's chicken or moo shoo pork until i came to canada. real chinese food is really healthy. see if you can go to an authentic one or maybe get invited to an asian household for dinner, authentic chinese food is so much better than (imo) the greasy crap.

Chinese food is very healthy. However, like every other culture, Chinese FAST food is NOT healthy. When you go out to your local Panda Express, you're choosing to ingest loads of oil and fats.

Traditional Chinese food is rich in grains, fish, and A LOT of vegetables. Chinese people also steam a lot of their dishes, whereas the fast food restaurants fry all of their entries.

If you MUST go out for Chinese fast food...

-Choose the rice over chow mien

-Avoid the meat dishes, especially the all-time favorite orange chicken

-Choose veggie-based entries (steamed if possible)

i totally agree with fitnessfreak -- i am taiwanese-chinese, and have eaten healthy and light chinese dishes all my life!  while there might be lots of fatty, greasy dishes, there are many more light and low-fat options as well.

as everyone's been suggesting, definitely choose PLAIN steamed white (or brown, if they have it) rice.  not fried rice, or fried noodles.  i love that chinese restaurants offer such a huge variety of veggie dishes.  i personally love chinese broccoli, mustard greens, bok choy, pea shoot leaves, etc.  all dark, leafy greens that are high in fiber and vitamins.

luckily, chinese food is really easy to make at home, especially stir fry dishes.  it's super fast and you can use any combination of veggies and protein.  just add 1-2 tsp of vegetable/canola oil, add garlic/ginger, then cook meat/tofu until nearly done. add your veggies, and then at the end, add a splash of low-sodium soy sauce, and voila! you have a simple stir fry dish.  :)