Dining Out: how to order healthier Chinese food

This Christmas eve, many of us will be sitting down to a wonderful, home-cooked meal. Just as many of us, I'm sure, will be hitting the local Chinese restaurant or dialing in take-out. It's no secret that Chinese food isn't among the lightest and low-cal out there. If we're talking calories alone, a typical meal of an egg roll (approx. 200 calories), white rice (220 calories), sesame chicken (approx. 450 calories), and a few pork dumplings (approx. 70 calories each) comes in at over 1,000 calories. Keep in mind, these amounts are largely based on single serving sizes, not an entire order of each.

Sticking to a single entree for your meal isn't likely to do your waistline much justice either. A carton of lo mein could easily cost you more calories than the entire meal listed above. Even the vegetable dishes can do you in, which are often drenched in oil to enhance their flavor and texture. To put things in perspective, an order of stir-fried eggplant comes in at around 1,000 calories. And I haven't even mentioned the loads of sodium and fat that commonly lurk in Chinese dishes. The amounts found in single servings are scary enough; you don't even want to know what you'll find in an entire order. If you're thinking about ordering some beef and broccoli, be aware that a serving could have around 12 grams of fat and over 1,500 milligrams of sodium. Of course, these amounts are all relative to where you're ordering from and how the dishes are prepared.

For a lighter meal, consider taking some of the following suggestions:

• Request brown rice over steamed rice.

• If the dish you'd like to order is deep-fried, see if it can be pan-fried or braised. To seriously lighten up your dish, ask for it to be cooked in vegetable stock instead of oil. This will make the dish moister and less crispy, saving you a considerable amount of fat and calories.

• Ask to have sauces provided on the side rather than having them added directly into your entrees. Sauces are where many of the calories, fat, sugar, and sodium lurk, but the good news is that you don't need much to obtain their flavor (nowhere near the hefty amount that restaurants use). To keep those numbers down, add a modest amount on yourself, or lightly coat your fork in the sauce before taking each bite.
• If the restaurant simply can't cook the dish without the sauce being mixed in, take a tip from NBC News and eat with a fork or chopsticks to allow some to drip off before the food hits your mouth.

• Order spring rolls over egg rolls. In general, avoid anything crispy (tofu included). 

• Opt for a vegetable-based dish (made with as little oil as possible), and if you're seriously craving some lo mein or kung pao chicken, take FitSugar's advice and order some to be shared with others. Serve yourself a small amount, just enough to obtain the flavor and satisfy your craving.

• Though lo mein is far from a healthy choice, if you're going to order it, shrimp lo mein is your best bet for the lightest option. Yep, even over veggie lo mein. 

• To keep the sodium down, steer clear of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and duck sauce.

• Avoid the pork dumplings, even if they're steamed (an order of 6 packs around 500 calories). To save calories and sodium, go with steamed veggie dumplings, or better yet order a cup of wonton soup (coming in at just a mere 100 calories).

• Split an entree with someone else or pack up half of the meal when it arrives. This way, you can avoid the temptation of devouring the whole order.

• For the healthiest of options, order your meal steamed to ensure what you're getting is low-cal and low-fat. You can always add some sauce for added flavor!

Wishing everyone a joyous and relaxing Christmas! Stay warm my friends!