chinese food
I think you can ask for steamed vegetables even if it's not on the menu. Otherwise, this is from a good article from Nutrition Action Newsletter:
Chicken Chow Mein (32g fat). (Chicken with Chinese Vegetables.) Fifty-five percent veggies and 30 percent chicken. That's our kind of dish . . . as long as you stay away from the fried noodles we were served in Washington and Chicago. (We didn't include them in our analyses. Ditto for the lo mein noodles we were served in San Francisco.)
Make it Better: Ax the fried noodles.
Hunan Tofu (28g fat). (Tofu, stir-fried in hot sauce.) The sauce only accounts for about a third of the dish's fat. The rest comes from its pound of tofu. Veggies? Pretty scarce. At least it has no cholesterol and not too much sat fat.
Shrimp with Garlic Sauce (27g fat). (Shrimp, stir-fried with vegetables.) Only four percent of calories from saturated fat (wow!), but more than a day's worth of cholesterol in each order (oof!). Most restaurants gave us six ounces of shrimp, though one in Chicago piled on almost a pound. That would sock you with close to 900 mg of cholesterol, three days' worth.
Make it Better: Try scallops instead.
Stir-Fried Vegetables (19g fat). (Vegetables and sauce.) You won't get much lower in saturated fat. And you sure can't beat zero cholesterol. You're not likely to do better than its 2,150 mg of sodium, either.
Make it Better: Try them steamed (or braised in broth). Sprinkle lightly with soy sauce. But go easy; every teaspoon costs you 350 mg of sodium.
Szechuan Shrimp (18%, 19g fat). (Shrimp, stir-fried in hot sauce.) Except for the day's worth of cholesterol, this was the best entree. It was lowest in saturated fat, tied for lowest in fat, and close to lowest in calories. That's if you get it without peanuts. Most of the restaurants served it that way, but one in Chicago piled on almost a half pound. (We didn't include any nuts in our analysis.)
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