Chinese Food?
 

Is there any particular food off the Chinese menu that is less horrible than another. I mean, obviously the fried stuff is something to stay away from, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can have that isn't going to knock me off track. Anybody know about this?

It depends on the place but steamed stuff is generally better than anything else. It is usually very easy to get steamed veggies at any chinese restaurant. Avoid stuff that is 'sweet and sour' or anything obviously fried. My favorite chinese place has a good hot and sour soup which is good to start a meal off with. You can also ask for stir fried stuff to be stir fried with minimal oil or possibly broth. Avoid stuff that is saucy or ask for sauce on the side instead.

Can you view the menu beforehand?

Steamed rice is always good, if you don't go too crazy with the portion. Brown rice is better if they have it.

Steamed veggies are always a good bet too. As far as other dishes, stay away from anything princess, kung pao, or fried and eat with a fork so that the sauces drip off. The sauces are really what are high in calories.

Beyond that, I'd say just watch your portions and enjoy yourself!

EDIT: For some reason I was thinking buffet, not sit down. If it's a sit down restaurant you have more options. Nelie's suggestion to ask for sauce on the side is great. You could also just order a clear soup and an appetizer as your entree. Potstickers aren't too bad calorie wise as long as they aren't deep fried (ask if you can get them steamed.)

I had heard once that egg rolls are actually one of the better choices, but it seems hard to believe. Has anyone else ever heard that?

I always get chicken lettuce wraps or a bowl of egg drop soup.

Well an egg roll is fried so I'd avoid it. I looked up the calories in 1 and an estimate (depends on place) is 170 calories. That is a lot of calories for a little thing.

Are you going to a buffet? Even at a buffet, you can special order dishes, again depends on the place. I abhor Chinese buffets but my parents love them so when I visit, they inevitably want to go to them. So I will special order food or else choose steamed entrees and even one place they go has a Mongolian grill type setup where you pick what you want and tell them what you want it stir fried in including light soy sauce and no oil.

I'd go for Mongolian instead if possible - the build-your-own option really lets you monitor what's going into your stir-fry.

I usually start with either egg drop or hot-and-sour soup, and order a broccoli-chicken or broccoli-beef stir-fry with no added oil on steamed brown rice. (Not all places will do this, so you'll need to ask) If you want an appetizer, ask if they have something like fresh spring rolls.

I eat at panda express quite a bit... and their best choices are:
beef and brocolli: 150 calories for 5.5 ounces
egg flower soup: 88 calories for 12 oz.
spring rolls: 80 calories apiece!

I usually go off of these numbers wherever I eat, but I'm sure it varies a little from place to place.

Does anyone know how the chicken with broc is? It has that light, yummy sauce so I can't imagine it is good. How could we find out the facts on this stuff? CUZE I LOVE IT!

We're basically looking at the lesser of the evils here.

Of course, steamed is best. But if you must get an actual dish, chicken chow mein (without the crispy noodles) is a good choice.

Most everything (with the exception of steamed) is going to be fried in oil. And, naturally, any stir-fry that includes deep-fried meats (like General Tso's chicken, for example) will be very high in fat and calories.

I love Chinese food and refuse to give it up. I just eat it in extreme moderation. I even still hit the Chinese buffet every once in a great while.

Egg rolls, as far as deep-fried food, aren't really all that bad. Most egg rolls, as long as they're not massive, are between 100-200 calories a piece. Spring rolls are even less because of the thinner wrapper.

This is a good informational site on Chinese dishes.

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/chinese.html

I eat Chinese food on a weekly basis and honestly where I eat, I believe it it be healthy food because they strive to make it healthy. There is a greasier (but really authentic) Chinese restaurant that I choose to go very infrequently. I've also tried to branch out and try other Chinese restaurants and they are generally very disappointing to me. One that advertised itself as healthy, had a lot of fried dishes on the menu and wouldn't tell you which ones were which unless you specifically asked. The place I go to regularly has listings of things as being deep fried, pan fried and with plenty of options of sauce on the side.

We have a place called Mongolian Grill and it's buffet style raw food that you put your own sauce on and then they cook it on a huge grill. I usually get lots of broccoli, some fish, maybe a little beef, sometimes some noodles (at this point they are boiled with just a little oil to keep them from sticking). Then I add garlic, ginger and lime juice as my "sauce". You can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you want.

steamed veggies and steamed shrimp

Can we say restaurant names on here? If so, try a place called Pei Wei if you have it in your area. It's PFChangs, diner style. Nutrition info is on the internet, and you can get some really satisfying, delicious chinese food with really reasonable calorie counts. I always get mongolian shrimp, and without the rice the whole dish is I think 370 cals. I can definitely fit that in for my favorite food!!!!! Yum! :carrot:

I like to make my own....
there are frozen eggrolls that are pretty low in calories and i bake in the oven so they are better for you! Also, i like to use Hoison sauce - espcially with shrimp and brown rice - quick and easy and low cal