Question about chinese food take-out

Question
I have heard that most take-out chinese food is very high in calories, and some of it should be avoided. I always noticed that the people that work there are always eating something different, than what is on the menu. Why is that?

I LOVE asian food, but I've always wondered about that!

Answer
Hi Dawn, good question :)

All things being equal, restaurants whether it's Western or Asian,  always use more grease on their food than what we'd normally use at home. Extra grease usually make the food taste better and they want to make sure that we love their food more than their competitors'.

If you want to eat healthy at Chinese restaurant, choose:
1. Soup. Both the clear soup or the creamy soup contains very little fat. The Chinese use cornstarch instead of cream to thicken the creamy soup.  

2. Eat like an Asian. We eat plenty of rice with everything. Many people are afraid of rice because of the low carb diet. According to the report from American Dietetic Association,  the low carb diet is a fad diet (http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/media_11092_ENU_HTML.htm)

In countries where people eat plenty of rice: Japan, Taiwan, China, Singapore, the rate of obesity is very low. Why? Because rice is rich in water content (70% of the volume is water), complex (good) carbohydrate and resistant starch. Resistant starch is very low in calorie content, 1 gram contains only about 2-3 calories and it increase our fat metabolism (http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/1/1/8).

3. Dishes with sauces such as black pepper, black bean, oyster, kung pao contain less oil and they use cornstarch which contain 0 gram fat to thicken the sauce.

People who work in the restaurant usually prefer menu from their hometown which maybe different from the typical Cantonese menu that's popular in the US.

Best Wishes,
Linda Yo
Certified Weight Consultant
Author of Asian Slim Secrets  

1. Prev:Nutrious Food
2. Next:Alternative ways of taking Whey Protein