12 ways to eat healthy at a Chinese restaurant

Chinese foods have become a regular cuisine with restaurants flooding all over the country. The Chinese noodles and fried rice may be scrumptious but they are loaded with calories. Many items in the Chinese menu are even deep fried, packed with sodium and drowned in sauces all of which are unhealthy. Here are some simple amendments you can make to enjoy a delicious meal and not sacrifice your healthy regime. You may also want to know the healthier option between Indian snacks and Chinese food.

•  Begin your meal with a soup. Order a broth-based soup instead of a creamy one. This will help you to fill up quickly and helps you eat less. Here is more on why having soup is a healthy idea.
•  Steamed items like steamed dumplings, steamed fish and vegetables dishes are good options as they contain fewer calories compared to fried items. Did you know that steaming your food can also help you lose weight?
•  If you are ordering dishes with sauces, ask them to serve it on the side. This will help you limit the amount of sauce you consume. Avoid thick sauces.
•  Choose brown rice over white rice or noodles. Order steamed or boiled rice to fried rice. Brown rice contains more fiber than white rice.
•  Eat lots of vegetables. Salads and boiled or steamed rice with lots of vegetables is a healthy option. Adding vegetables to your meal is one of the best ways to ensure that you are eating healthy. Salads have negative calories that help you lose weight.
•  Stay away from deep fried dishes. Avoid egg rolls, fried rice, fried wanton, crispy noodles. By avoiding fried food you avoid the extra calories and fat.
•  Avoid calorie high curries like Thai curries cooked with coconut cream. If you absolutely must have some then you can share the dish. Take a small portion of your favorite dish and follow it up with a large portion of steamed vegetables. This will bring down calories, fat and sodium. 
•  Using chopsticks or forks will prevent you from eating extra sauce as it will remain at the bottom of the dish when eating. Chopsticks will slow you down (if you’ve never used one before they might stop you from eating at all) and reduce the amount of food you take in.
•  Try to avoid desserts and if you are craving for one then limit your portion. You can have date pancakes or fruit salads or lychee with ice-cream and skip the brownies, pastries, fudge and ice-creams. Find the calorie count of your favourite ice-creams and pastries here.
• Regular sodas, juices and energy drinks are huge sources of empty calories (empty calories imply food items or beverages that contain a lot of calories without having additional nutritional benefits) and increase your daily calorie intake. You can have water or lime juice.
•  Always enquire about the method of preparation of the dish you are planning to order. You can ask if MSG is added to the dish and request them to cook without MSG. Know the truth about MSG or ajinomoto here.

There are many healthy Chinese and Thai food options available, you can wisely choose them and enjoy these cuisines without sacrificing your health.

The table below will help you in ordering healthy options next time you dine at Chinese or Thai restaurant

Healthier choices

Less healthy choices

Clear Soups (Veg/Chicken)

 

Tofu Hunan style/ Steamed dumpling

 

Steamed or Baked tofu

 

Dishes with vegetables

 

Chopsuey with soft noodles

 

Steamed Rice/ Pot Rice (vegetable/ chicken)

 

Water or Lime juice

Cream based Soups

 

Egg rolls/ Fried wanton

 

Deep fried tofu

 

Dishes with fried meats

 

Chopsuey with crispy noodles

 

Fried rice like Chicken fried rice/ Crabmeat fried rice/ Veg fried rice

 

Regular soda, juices and energy drinks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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