How To Find The Healthy Options At The Chinese Restaurant

Posted on

Although food from a Chinese restaurant is delicious, it's not the first thing people think of when they're considering healthy meal choices. However, Chinese restaurants offer a tremendous amount of healthy options.

Just Look at the Menu

The menu at many Chinese restaurants lists tons of items. If you're not familiar with the names of some of those items, you might miss some of the healthier options.

In some places, the menu will have symbols or indicators on the menu itself. These can let you know which dishes are purely vegetarian, or which ones contain fewer calories. Some menus also have a section dedicated to diet options. You may also see notifications that certain dishes contain no MSG.

What Not to Consider

Many of the dishes, even the healthier ones, may have sauces in them that aren't healthy for you. You can end up with something "healthy" that's still full of sodium, carbs, and calories.

If it's fried, or has fried in its name, you should avoid it. This includes those crispy noodles served as appetizers. But fried options only make up part of the menu.

What You Should Consider

Look around the menu a little more. Here's what you should keep an eye out for.

Steamed options - Steaming keeps out many of the fatty oils that come with frying. Most fish and meat options have a steamed counterpart on the menu. You can also look at poached, roasted, or barbecued options.

Sauces on the side – You don't need your dish drenched in sauce. Ask to have it on the side or eliminate it altogether.

Soups – Chinese restaurants often have a variety of soups available. Not all soups are healthy, but since it's soup, you'll likely take in fewer calories.

Brown rice – Skip the white rice and the fried rice options. Brown rice is fiber rich, and generally considered extremely healthy.

Veggies and proteins – You can't go wrong with veggies or protein rich foods like tofu. You can even have your veggies stir-fried. "Buddha's Delight" is actually a great combination of these things.

Choose Your Chinese Food with Confidence

You can enjoy the great taste of Chinese food without needing to cheat on your diet. Chinese restaurants offer a plethora of healthy options. You just have to pay attention. Don't shy away from asking for your food to be prepared a certain way either. The restaurant will likely have no problem with making your dish to your healthier specification. To find out more, speak with a business like Lilac Blossom Restaurant.


Share