Chinese food is delicious. There is no shortage of wonderful Chinese restaurants to choose from around the world whenever you feel like dining in or enjoying a take away. But if you are creating homemade Chinese food, there are a lot of ways to cut down on the fat content of food without compromising on the taste and visual appeal of the food.
Steamed Rice
Rice is a mainstay of Chinese food and is enjoyed as an accompaniment to many Chinese meals. But many rice dishes are fried in a lot of oil and are coated in lots of salt and other ingredients such as Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), which is a by product of salt and is very unhealthy. Next time you decide to make homemade Chinese food, try to serve steamed rice instead of fried rice, as this will be a much healthier alternative. If you simply must have the taste of fried rice, steam up a batch and then gently fry it for a few minutes using a fat-free cooking spray. Use reduced sodium soy sauce sparingly when you dish up. Even the low sodium varieties are very high in sodium and a small amount goes a long way.
Vegetable Noodle Soup
Chinese soups are delicious and satisfying. But they can also be quite unhealthy. Choose a vegetable noodle soup and add lots of vegetables to the soup to bulk it up and fill you up faster. Watch the salt too. Wait until the soup is ready to serve before adding salt or any other seasoning.
Share Portions
Just as restaurant portions of Chinese food are huge and can easily feed two or three people per serving, the tendency is to make too much food when you are cooking homemade Chinese food. If you are trying to cut back on large portion sizes, you should consider sharing your usual portion with family members. Add rice, vegetables and other ingredients to your plate without going overboard and share what you would normally eat with another family member.
More Vegetables less Meat
One key way to enjoy healthy homemade Chinese food is to eat more vegetables than meat. Opt for steamed or stir fried vegetables with just a small amount of meat. Adding more vegetables will help the meal go further, add vital nutrients to the meal and help you feel fuller for longer.
These are just a few ways to enjoy healthier homemade Chinese food. It all starts with a positive attitude and a willingness to adapt favourite meals into healthier, guilt-free alternatives.
