Foods to Avoid
- Rice, including fried rice and steamed rice
- Noodles, including chow mein, lo mein, and chow fun
- Wontons, including the deep-fried type sometimes on tables
- Breaded meats, such as in General Tso’s Chicken
- Egg rolls
Sweet Sauces
It’s often hard to tell by looking at the menu which sauces have sugar in them, but these sauces generally will have quite a bit. Obviously the amount you eat will govern the carb level:
- Sweet and sour sauce
- Duck sauce (the orangish sauce for egg rolls in some places)
- Plum sauce (often served with mu shu)
- Oyster sauce
- Hoisin sauce
Proceed With Caution
- Thick soups and sauces are thickened with cornstarch. One tablespoon of cornstarch has about 7 grams of carb. In a platter of food with a thickened sauce, there will be about 1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch. A cup of hot and sour soup might have about a teaspoon of corn starch (2 grams of carb).
- Cornstarch is also often used to “velvet” meats prior to stir frying. Meats prepared in this way don’t necessarily looked breaded, as it is a very thin coat of starch.
- Some Chinese dishes are quite sweet. If it’s a dish you’ve had before, your taste buds will be your guide. If not, ask. Spicy sauces are apt to have sugar in them, so ask about this. Lemon chicken almost always has a lot of sugar.
- Water chestnuts are somewhat starchy, but a few slices aren’t a big deal. 4 whole water chestnuts have about 3 grams of effective carb. ½ cup of slices has about 7 grams.
The Safest Choices
- Clear thin soups like egg drop, which is usually thin
- Steamed food, including whole steamed fish or steamed tofu with vegetables.
- Meat and vegetable combinations with thin, savory sauces (a small amount of sugar may be added, perhaps a teaspoon (4 grams of carb) for the whole dish. Examples would be (in many places) chicken with mushrooms, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Szechuan prawns, and curry chicken. Again, use your eyes and taste buds to figure whether the sauce is sweet and/or thick.
- Stir-fried dishes without sugar or starch (normally there may be a small amount, perhaps amounting to a gram or two of carb per serving)
- Black bean sauce does not tend to be carby as some of the others (there is a very small amount of beans in the sauce)
- Mu Shu without the wrappers
- Walnut chicken is usually not made with starch or sugar
- Egg Foo Yung (without gravy)
- Mongolian Barbeque, while not Chinese, is near to it. It is a good choice, as you can choose your own meats and vegetables and prepare them to order
Practice saying the following sentence: “Is it possible to have this dish without sugar or starch?” Many (but not all) restaurants will do this for you. An alternative is to ask for the sauce on the side.
Also rememebr to go for your protein rich foods such as white fish or chicken. Theres alwas a chicken option on the menue. Personally I lov Black Bean Sauce with some stirfried or steamed veggies. Although its a set menu you may be able to ask for sometjing additional on the side. Just tell them you have dietry requirements and they should accomodate you. Hope you have a lovely meal!!
