I was faced with the American Chinese buffet problem last night. We took my mother-in-law out for her favorite restaurant. I can't eat salt. Was there anything there without salt - very little. Oh the fresh fruit. That tasted like shoe leather. Depends on the restaurant. This place used enough oil and salt for 80 restaurants.

It also depends on the kind of food you eat. If it's a roadside meal, then you don't know what's gone into the food.

Personally, any food that you make yourself at home is healthy (or can be made healthier) since you are in control. You can adjust & decrease the amount of oil, butter, sauces, salt.....

Lightly cooked stir-frys with just a little oil & LOTS of flavor by way of aromatics, spices & herbs can make your veggies and lean proteins sing! Also, portion control & size are important too. Everything in balance & moderation :-)

When I visit China, the food there is very different -- more veggies, lighter sauces, not greasy or everything deep fried. It is however full of flavor!

This is the same for Indian food -- it's much healthier at home than in an Indian restaurant.

As with any other cuisine, it is what you make of it. I think traditional Chinese cooking is healthier than what you get at the local chinese restaurant (where everything is breaded, deep fried and covered in a sauce).

Steamed veggies in some broth with fish or chicken...yum

Lila-

I think the main ingredients have the potential to be very healthy. As Sadhana says, making it at home allows you to control the results.

I live 1 mile from China Town in Chicago and I find it rather oily. I often think a little now and then is okay, but eating it regularly couldn't be good for me. That said, I love the taste, but tend to go for Thai when I want it fast.

Dear Lila,
Where I live in the province of Quebec,you can have your food prepared in front of you,so YOU control what is put in your plate.

loong

I have a favorite Chinese food dive here in Phoenix. The service is horrid the food is wonderful.I wonder if they barely pass health inspection. And on more than one occasion, I've wondered if they recycled food off of tables. A tall charge I know....but I do have strong reasons to be suspect. That said, Chinese food is healthy if you make healthy selections, avoid fried selections, ask for no MSG, and tell them to "go light" on the oil they use to stir fry. Funny note, the place where I go, the service is horrible and they would rarely follow any of my requests. And YES the food is still that good to overlook all of the other concerns.

I think it is very much on the cooking of it. I used to buy alot of takeaway stuff that was definately not good for you! For the past year i have been cooking at home with ingredients i buy myself and so know what I am putting in it. I must say, there is a little thing called MSG that i had never heard of in my 'takeaway' days but will now not touch. It is an artificial flavour enhancer that nearly all takeaways had used, check labelling ingredients before buying your soy sauce and oyster sauce as it really is not good for you.

I agree also that it very much depends on the ingredients used in preparation of the food. Most restaurants and pre-made box chinese food are laden with unhealthy ingredients.
My local newspaper ran a recipe for cashew chicken a while back, and the nutritional analysis showed the homemade version to be a healthy meal. It tastes better than already made, too

I think Chinese food is very healthy, Chinese exports to foreign things are carefully selected.Grew up in an eating Chinese food is very healthy. BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!