Eating Healthy at a Chinese Restaurant: Some Tips

Chinese is one of the most popular cuisines not just in the mainland China but all other parts of the world. The noodles, the Manchurian and the fried rice are loved by most people across the world and are a preferred meal choice when going out to a restaurant. But is Chinese food really that healthy? Well, just like any other cuisine, Chinese too has its pitfalls and may not always make for the healthiest meal.

Especially when eating out at a Chinese restaurant, one must order carefully to ensure that you can make the most of the healthy parts of this cuisine. The following are some tips that will help you to eat healthy at a Chinese restaurant.

eating healthy at a chinese restaurantStarting with the Soup

One of the best ways to ensure that you are eating healthy at a Chinese restaurant is to start your meal with the soup. Having soup at the starting can help you decrease the total amount of calories that you intake and also ensures that you take in some fiber. You can choose from broth based soups for example egg drop soup, miso or hot and sour soup.

Ordering Appetizers

Another way to increase the healthy quotient at your Chinese meal at a restaurant is to order those appetizers which are high on vegetable content and those which are not fried. You can order lettuce wraps and steamed momos.

Go for Vegetable Rich Main Course Items

Focus on vegetables when you eat out at a restaurant the next time. Vegetables can help you add vitamins phytochemicals to your meals and can also help to fill you up with fiber. You can look for those main course items which are full of broccoli, mushrooms and cabbage etc.

Avoid too Many Sauces

Another important and effective tip to avoid consuming a lot of calories at your next Chinese meal is to avoid or be wary of the sauces. Most sauces contain a lot of sodium, sugar and fat and are thus unhealthy. Add sauce in moderation and avoid ordering all the meals containing sauces.

Choose Steamed over Fried

If you have the option, always choose steamed Chinese food over fried Chinese items because the fried stuff can be really unhealthy for you. Also, you can choose broiled, roasted and stir-fried options as all of these are much better than fried Chinese foods. Also, avoid ordering anything which has been cooked using a lot of oil.