I love Chinese food. But is it a healthy choice?

Chinese food can be incredible healthy or unhealthy.

First, will they provide brown rice? If not, you can assume their whole mentality is not
health oriented.

Does their "Buddhist Delight" include soup with a chicken broth?

You have to ask and be very specific. Very little oil on stir frying. Steam. Brown rice.
Lightly cooked.

And if you can, look in the kitchen and make sure it is clean.

Bob

Nicholas Zhou said:

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---- I love Chinese food. But is it a healthy choice? ----

Chinese food is not only full of delicious flavours ¨C it can be a healthy option too. If you're
eating in a Chinese restaurant, buying from a takeaway, or cooking at home, remember to go for lower-
fat options.

You could choose dishes such as steamed fish, chicken chop suey and Szechwan prawns. Lower-fat
options include anything boiled or steamed, such as steamed fish and plain rather than fried
rice. And for a healthy choice, it's best to avoid anything in batter because these foods are
high in fat.

Steaming rather than deep-fat frying really cuts down on fat. Traditionally, Chinese food was
cooked in small bamboo steamers, but it's easy to steam food if you're cooking at home. If you
haven¡¯t got a steamer, try putting the food in a sieve over a pan of boiling water. The great
thing about steaming is that you don¡¯t need to add any fat, and steamed vegetables keep their
natural flavour and nutrients.

Stir-frying, another traditional Chinese cooking method, can also be a healthy way to cook.
Ideally you should use a wok, but any large pan will do. You only need to use a very small amount
of oil and the food cooks quickly. This means the food is low in added fat and it retains more
nutrients because the cooking time is shorter. So, if you're cooking up your own stir-fry, you'll
end up with a meal that's tasty, nutritious, ready quickly, and you¡¯ll only have one pan to wash!

Stir-fries typically contain a good selection of vegetables and a moderate amount of lean meat or
other protein, and they're usually served with a large portion of rice or noodles ¨C which is a
great combination for a healthy diet.

A healthy balanced meal should be based around starchy foods, so for a Chinese meal choose foods
such as rice, noodles, dumplings, plain and vegetable buns, and go for wholemeal or wholegrain
versions whenever possible. These foods are filling, but they¡¯re not fattening unless they¡¯re
cooked with oil or you add fatty spreads and sauces to them. So choose boiled or steamed versions
instead of frying if possible.

We should be eating lots of fruit and vegetables. The aim is to have at least five portions of a
variety of fruit and vegetables each day. So choose from the following Chinese delights: bamboo
shoots, bean sprouts, chinese cabbage/greens such as pak choi, water chestnuts, baby corn, exotic
varieties of mushrooms and onions, aubergine, lychees, mandarins, melon, starfruit, and the list
goes on.

We need to eat moderate amounts of protein such as duck, chicken, squid, prawns, bean curd (tofu),
eggs and nuts. For a healthy choice, go for the lower-fat versions whenever possible. Choose lean
meat, trim off any excess fat and skim the fat off the top of meat soups.

We should also have moderate amounts of milk and dairy foods, but these foods don¡¯t feature
heavily in traditional Chinese cuisine, so you could choose fortified soya or rice milk, fish
where you eat the bones, green leafy vegetables and tofu as alternative sources of calcium.

Only eat foods containing fat and/or sugar sparingly. So, when you¡¯re cooking, use as little oil
as possible. Instead of sugary desserts or snacks try porridge, noodles, steamed dumplings and
fruit. Drink milk, water, herbal teas and fruit juice instead of sugary drinks. And why not try a
pot of jasmine tea after your meal and some lychees for dessert?

Chinese seasonings and sauces make food tasty but they¡¯re high in salt, so only use these in
moderation:

hoisin (barbecue) sauce

plum sauce

black/yellow bean sauces

soy/oyster/fish sauces

You could try these flavourings instead: pepper, ginger, garlic, 5-spice powder (star anise,
fennel, clove, cinnamon, peppercorns).

Also, you may have heard that some soy sauces contain unhealthy processing chemicals. But levels
of these chemicals (called 3-MCPD) are coming down. In fact, when the Agency checked samples of
soy sauce in 2001 nearly a quarter had ¡®higher than acceptable¡¯ levels, but only 6% did in 2002.
This is because more and more companies have recognised the problem and are working to avoid it.
Even at these higher levels, you would need to have a lot of soy sauce with higher than acceptable
levels of these chemicals, and eat it regularly for many years for there to be a health risk from
the chemicals.

-- Originally featured in Food Standards Agency

Nicholas Zhou - Author "Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking" chinesefooddiy.comchinesefooddiy.comOpen ↗
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