What Chinese foods are low in calorie and fat.?

Question

My friend is taking me to a Chinese restaurant buffet and they always bring out duck, rice, fried chicken, and these taco things. I was wondering what safe things I could order that are low in fat and calorie.

Answer 1

WOAH - that is totally incorrect to say that Chinese food is all greasy and not healthy.  That's an irresponsible description of a cuisine that is actually considered one of the most healthiest of all.  It's the Americans that get the fat, greasy, unhealthy stuff b/c that's what makes this country what it is.  Chinese restaurants *cater* to that because they know that's what Americans eat.

Chinese food is FULL of lean meats, no fat, steamed vegetables, white rice and brown rice, plentiful portions of vegetables in the dishes.  

Of course fried rice isn't healthy. It's day old rice covered in soy sauce and refried in a wok w/ oil.  Eggrolls: fried.  Potstickers: fried.  etc., etc.

Mongolian Beef -- beef and broccoli.

Potstickers -- order steamed only

Steamed chicken dishes or stir fry dishes are great.

Even their sauces can be healthier because they only use a little corn starch to thicken, rather than cream and butter like everyone else.  

Enjoy Chinese food! It's delicious! But it's up to you to order what's good for you!

Answer 2

Chinese people dont really specialize in healthy food, sadly pretty much all japanese and chinese foods are greasy and often not too healthy.  the thing i would have to say for you to go with is something natural maybe like noodles? or maybe a salad.

But! if you've been doing good, eating healthy and everything pretty much all the time, 1 time going out to eat eating unhealthy stuff is NOT going to hurt you...

Answer 3

Buffet Chinese food are naturally not really Chinese food.  It is Americanized Chinese food.

Those taco things are actually fairly healthy.  (they are called Mu-shui, I think).

Order vegatable stir-fry with Tofu.  That are usually low in fat and calories.

Answer 4

If you're eating Chinese, the most obvious choice to make is avoid anything that's fried. Sadly, most meat dishes in American Chinese places are deep-fried, so you'll have to scratch sesame beef, general's chicken, and sweet & sour pork from your choices.

The only specific meat dish I can think of that isn't fried is broccoli beef, but I'm sure there will be other items at the place you go.

As a general rule, avoid duck, fried rice, and those disgusting yellow noodles at all costs--they're packed with calories.

If the place has brown rice, take that instead of white rice. Fish, tofu, and vegetable dishes are probably your best bets, though they will probably be stir-fried in oil. If you see some steamed vegetables, load up on those--almost no calories. Accompany the vegetables with a saucy tofu dish, and you'll have a delicious and healthy meal. Relatively healthy, at least.

I'm not sure what you mean by "taco things," though. The only thing that comes to mind is mu shu; that's rice pancakes filled with shredded cabbage, fried egg or meat, and a sweet sauce. If you're offered mu shu, ask for a vegetarian one--they're delicious, and have fewer calories than other appetizers, such as potstickers or fried spring rolls.

Good luck with your choices!

Answer 5

It's not surprising that many Americans & other Westerners have the perception that Chinese food is unhealthy & only consists of deep-fried, greasy, salty & MSG laden stuff, if the only kind of Chinese & Asian food they've ever eaten comes from typical small & cheap Asian eateries in Western countries. Even many Chinese dishes with the same names are unrecognisable in USA and Asia because of American Chinese restaurants having had to pander to local tastes.

Actually any cuisine would have its share of both healthy & stroke-inducing food. As for Chinese food, buffets are actually originally alien to Chinese cuisine and most buffets merely offer tons of cheap & usually unhealthy food with little variety.

Ordering ala carte is much healthier but the general principle is to:

- avoid deep-fried stuff

- take only a little bit of accompanying sauces especially the heavy thick sauces

- go for steamed dishes

- take the soups, but watch out if they're too salty

- stir-fried veggies & tofu are good

- take plain steamed white or brown rice instead of fried rice

- minimise intake of roasted & deep-fried meats, meat stir-fried with veggies are usually lean

As mentioned you'll have a far greater flexibility if ordering ala carte and if you limit yourself to only a few dishes in a buffet you're not getting much money's worth.

Answer 6

no chinese buffet is healthy, just go for the vegetables and rice