By: Tristan Lum
When you are dining out at Chinese restaurants, try to avoid going to those large buffet place since many of them have a lot of greasy foods. The best way eat healthy is really to eat a well balanced meal. It’s important to eat a good portion of vegetables over meat and rice. You may prefer to stay away from eating several of those egg rolls and other deep fried dishes. These egg rolls and other fried foods initially stem from the roots of American Chinese type of restaurants. Here are some ideas that you should consider when dining out:

1. Finding a great restaurant. Go talk to your friends and family and ask them which restaurants that have experienced. Look in your local papers and internet site to find a recommend restaurant. You may need to stray away from your local town to find a good one.

2. Choose your right dishes. Don’t forget that you should be sharing your meals with people at your table. It is traditional to share your dishes as a group. Start out your meals with a soup for everyone. This will help your stomach from absorbing the fatty food throughout your meal. Try to stay away from foods that have a lot of fat - fried dumplings, fried wonton, and egg rolls if possible. For your vegetable dishes, you are able to choose a Bok Choy, Green beans, or vegetables.

3. Choose a tea flavor. This is the tea that you will with others in your party. There are many teas available and the some of the common tea are Jasmine, Oolong, and Black. If you’re not familiar with these tea flavors, you may ask the waiter and try a common and less bitter tea that suits your taste buds.

4. Avoid eating a lot of rice. The rice will fill you up quickly and there are many carbohydrates in rice. In general, try to eat more rice than the meat and seafood.

5. Be careful of other food allergies. You may want to avoid putting MSG (know as monosodium glutamate) into your foods. Some restaurants don’t allow you to this, but you should ask. It may offend the waiter if you ask - so ask politely.

6. Avoid other food ingredients. Some foods are high in sugar and starches (flour) which add to the number of carbohydrates in your food. Eat food with less salt which could include heavy amounts of soy sauce and other salt gravy.

7. Eat less dessert. Some of the desserts are high sugar and have fatty ingredients. It is good to try these desserts sparingly.

With these ideas in mind, your next adventure at a new Chinese restaurant will be fun, healthy, and enjoyable!

Tristan Lum invites Asian food fanatics and enthusiasts to cook Chinese food better than five star restaurants. Impress friends and family with your great tasting Chinese food! Instantly receive five days of exclusive access to audio and video on Chinese cooking at www.wokfusion.com.