What's the healthiest Western-style Chinese Food? [Archive]

View Full Version : What's the healthiest Western-style Chinese Food?

Tenbatsuzen

09-08-2006, 02:10 PM

Oxymoron, I'm sure. Anyway, I'm trying to watch my fat content, and I've got a hankering for Chinese. I used to eat a lot of crap when I had Chinese, but I'm focused right now on Chicken with String Beans, and white rice. Is this going to be horrifically bad, or can I eat it and still maintain the health goals I have?

bobrobot

09-08-2006, 02:12 PM

If it's Szechuan, you're OK! You don't want Cantonese (rich sauce)!!! Most places will give you brown rice if you request it!!!

This message was edited by bobogolem on 9-8-06 @ 6:13 PM

HBox

09-08-2006, 02:12 PM

With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content.

Tenbatsuzen

09-08-2006, 02:16 PM

HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content.    I'm not too worried about salt; I've been exercising regularly and I drink a lot of water, so it gets all flushed out.

Tenbatsuzen

09-08-2006, 02:17 PM

An interesting thing I learned: a majority of chinese restaurants have "Western Style" in Chinese on the signage or the menus to let other Asians know that it's not "authentic".  I'm not sure if I should be offended or amused.

boeman

09-08-2006, 02:46 PM

It depends on the type of dog used to prepare the dish.

bobrobot

09-08-2006, 03:06 PM

Tenbatsuzen wrote: An interesting thing I learned: a majority of chinese restaurants have "Western Style" in Chinese on the signage or the menus to let other Asians know that it's not "authentic".  I'm not sure if I should be offended or amused.Most Chinese restaurants have a different menu for Chinese patrons, the reason being most Americans couldn't handle the taste & texture of real Chinese food.

Alice S. Fuzzybutt

09-08-2006, 03:07 PM

Not sure about the Chinese places near you, but a lot of Chinese restaurants offer a "healthy" menu, meaning, steamed versions of their sauteed dishes with sauce on the side.

Gvac

09-08-2006, 03:15 PM

For 5 years I worked for a company that was owned by Chinese.  I was shocked when they took me to an authentic Chinese restaurant.  The stuff was amazing.  They explained to me that people emigrating from China to the U.S. are taught how to cook what we call Chinese food so they can open up take out places.  The cooks tell them "Americans love this crap."  I guess it's the same with all ethnic foods; they tend to take on characteristics of the country they're in, and it's extremely rare to find one that's truly authentic.

Alice S. Fuzzybutt

09-08-2006, 03:19 PM

I was shocked when they took me to an authentic Chinese restaurant.  I went to a Chinese wedding in Chinatown years ago and had the most amazing meal! The food just kept coming and coming.  We were so disappointed when we went back to the restaurant and found we couldn't get the same dishes.

Tenbatsuzen

09-08-2006, 04:37 PM

Alice S. Fuzzybutt wrote: Not sure about the Chinese places near you, but a lot of Chinese restaurants offer a "healthy" menu, meaning, steamed versions of their sauteed dishes with sauce on the side.    I always got steamed white meat chicken and white or brown rice, and tossed it with hot sauce and a little fake "butter".  It was pretty good, although not chinese food.  I finally got disgusted with the place that had it because they kept undercooking the chicken. For what it's worth, I got chicken and string beans.  I'm happy.  Full tummy. BTW, they are building a P.F. Chang's right by my house.  I'm looking forward to that.

Tenbatsuzen

09-08-2006, 04:39 PM

Gvac wrote: They explained to me that people emigrating from China to the U.S. are taught how to cook what we call Chinese food so they can open up take out places. The cooks tell them "Americans love this crap."    Actually, I've read that a majority of "Chinese" restaurants are usually owned and operated by Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese immigrants, especially in the suburbs of larger cities.

Alice S. Fuzzybutt

09-08-2006, 04:48 PM

Strange, but a really great Mexican take-out place near me (Tortilla Grill) is Chinese owned. Same kind of menu with pics at the place, but it's all Mexican food.Tenbats, sometimes you just have to feed a craving. It's better to get what you want rather than trying to curb the craving with other things. THEN go for what you want.

Judge Smails

09-08-2006, 06:09 PM

<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/alden97/eating_small.jpg" border="0" />            Sorry, I was just looking for an excuse to post that pic.

Tenbatsuzen

09-08-2006, 06:14 PM

Alice S. Fuzzybutt wrote: Strange, but a really great Mexican take-out place near me (Tortilla Grill) is Chinese owned. Same kind of menu with pics at the place, but it's all Mexican food.Tenbats, sometimes you just have to feed a craving. It's better to get what you want rather than trying to curb the craving with other things. THEN go for what you want.    Same with the Southwest Burrito in New Brunswick.  Asian owned, Mexican food.

Dirtybird12

09-09-2006, 10:46 AM

sailor

09-09-2006, 11:05 AM

HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content.   if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt.

Don Stugots

09-09-2006, 11:10 AM

when i am watching my weight, which hasnt been latley because my nerves are shot and i am having panic attacks that feel like heart attacks (no my name is not fez) i eat brown rice with steamed shrimp with NO SAUCE.

HBox

09-09-2006, 11:13 AM

bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content. if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt.   Too much salt intake is a cause of hypertension.

sailor

09-09-2006, 11:32 AM

HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content. if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt. Too much salt intake is a cause of hypertension.   hypertension is high blood pressure, hence my line "if you don't have high blood pressure."  your blood pressure is something that's checked fairly often (depending on how often you see your doctor).  as long as it doesn't start to rise, there's no medical reason to cut your salt intake (that i know of).  i've gotten this from my doctor in the past, i'm not some expert in my own right.

DeltaPin

09-09-2006, 12:44 PM

Alice S. Fuzzybutt wrote: I was shocked when they took me to an authentic Chinese restaurant.  I went to a Chinese wedding in Chinatown years ago and had the most amazing meal! The food just kept coming and coming.  We were so disappointed when we went back to the restaurant and found we couldn't get the same dishes. For work I used to travel to China on numerous occasions, I've always enjoyed the different meals, especially the varieties of seafood.  Then once I traveled with some people fron the Mid-West.  We arrived in Hong Kong, after checking into the hotel in Kowloon, we decided to go out to eat.  Several people wanted nothing to with Chinese food, ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe for a burger. WTF???  As we went to different places on the mainland, for the next two weeks you never saw more miserable people when we went out to eat.

HBox

09-09-2006, 12:49 PM

bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content. if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt. Too much salt intake is a cause of hypertension. hypertension is high blood pressure, hence my line "if you don't have high blood pressure." your blood pressure is something that's checked fairly often (depending on how often you see your doctor). as long as it doesn't start to rise, there's no medical reason to cut your salt intake (that i know of). i've gotten this from my doctor in the past, i'm not some expert in my own right.   I know that hypertension is high blood pressure. My point was that eating too much salt causes high blood pressure. I don't know what your point is. It's OK to not worry about salt intake until it causes high blood pressure? I was just saying that the high amounts of salt in Chinese food is something to think about.

sailor

09-09-2006, 01:21 PM

HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content. if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt. Too much salt intake is a cause of hypertension. hypertension is high blood pressure, hence my line "if you don't have high blood pressure." your blood pressure is something that's checked fairly often (depending on how often you see your doctor). as long as it doesn't start to rise, there's no medical reason to cut your salt intake (that i know of). i've gotten this from my doctor in the past, i'm not some expert in my own right. I know that hypertension is high blood pressure. My point was that eating too much salt causes high blood pressure. I don't know what your point is. It's OK to not worry about salt intake until it causes high blood pressure? I was just saying that the high amounts of salt in Chinese food is something to think about.   yes, i would say that was exactly my point.

HBox

09-09-2006, 01:30 PM

bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content. if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt. Too much salt intake is a cause of hypertension. hypertension is high blood pressure, hence my line "if you don't have high blood pressure." your blood pressure is something that's checked fairly often (depending on how often you see your doctor). as long as it doesn't start to rise, there's no medical reason to cut your salt intake (that i know of). i've gotten this from my doctor in the past, i'm not some expert in my own right. I know that hypertension is high blood pressure. My point was that eating too much salt causes high blood pressure. I don't know what your point is. It's OK to not worry about salt intake until it causes high blood pressure? I was just saying that the high amounts of salt in Chinese food is something to think about. yes, i would say that was exactly my point.   By that logic it's OK not to worry about cholesterol until your arteries are clogged.

sailor

09-09-2006, 01:45 PM

HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: bronxmarc wrote: HBox wrote: With that dish I'd imagine you'd have to worry more about the salt content. if you don't have high blood pressure (and you're not having water retention issues), there's nothing wrong with eating a lot of salt. Too much salt intake is a cause of hypertension. hypertension is high blood pressure, hence my line "if you don't have high blood pressure." your blood pressure is something that's checked fairly often (depending on how often you see your doctor). as long as it doesn't start to rise, there's no medical reason to cut your salt intake (that i know of). i've gotten this from my doctor in the past, i'm not some expert in my own right. I know that hypertension is high blood pressure. My point was that eating too much salt causes high blood pressure. I don't know what your point is. It's OK to not worry about salt intake until it causes high blood pressure? I was just saying that the high amounts of salt in Chinese food is something to think about. yes, i would say that was exactly my point. By that logic it's OK not to worry about cholesterol until your arteries are clogged.   like i said it's what my doctor told me.  i am not an expert, but he told me salt isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be and as long as you don't have a history of high blood pressure, it's ok.  also, you can see your pressure creeping up and can change your diet long before you're in the hypertension zone.

angrymissy

09-10-2006, 10:14 AM

salt is delicious.

flavopop

09-10-2006, 10:32 AM

Get your ass to that PF CHANGS ASAP !  Best chi-knee food EVER!  Im going right after the Jets game today.  I go to the one in West NY, down near the water near Hoboken.  Wheres the one they are putting up near you?  NOW IM STARVIN!Jets 13-0 over the TITans at the half...Go Gang GREEN!~!!!!!