Chinese Food

[akelley]

Okay, so I'm in week 4 to 5 of the Atkins. I love Chinese food and was wondering if there's anything I can eat if I were to go out - or whether it's something I will only get rarely the rest of my life.

I know the obvious dishes would be out like Sweet and Sour anything, rice, and noodles. In my research I've found that even soy sauce has carbs so would that mean even the sauces would be bad? I also know restaurants tend to thicken their sauces with corn starch, so is it really bad to eat Chinese food even if I avoid the obvious items listed above?

Thanks.

[ldypgmr]

Hi akelley

The best you can do is to have them stir fry you some meat and veggys without sauce and then use soy sauce and stuff at the table to flavor it.

Once you are on maintenance you can add back in some rice....until then, well let's just say I am staying away from my favorite chinese place.

Dee

[Shellyf34]

I watiressed in a Chinese restaurant when I was young, aand I can tell you that you just need to stay away from those right now.

Try making stir fry at home! It is sooo easy and you can control the seasonings. They even have those bags of "stir fry veggies" in the salad section of a lot of stores.

If you are really craving Asian cuisine, try Japanese. I had Japanese last Friday...Salmon Terriaki (very light on the sauce), miso soup and salad (I didn't even open my little bowl of rice) and I was still in Ketosis in the morning.

Happy Hunting!

Shelly

[wbahn]

I agree with the others. Restaurant and store bought chinese are pretty much out - starch and sugar in everything. Now, if you have a couple of specific places you like and approach them, they will almost certainly work with you to figure out a way that they can prepare a few dishes to meet your needs and educate you on what you need to request each time you come in.

[akelley]

Thanks all for the responses.

So, if I can't eat out, can I make it myself? Meaning, replacing sugar with Splenda or other substitute and not thickening sauces or just using a very small amount of corn starch to thicken? Or is it just that there is too many carbs in soy sauce, chicken stock, etc. to really eat that kind of food?

[Shellyf34]

The Kikkoman Soy Sauce I have says 0 carbs for one tablespoon, and chicken stock has about 1 gram per cup, so that is not bad. Flavor your stir fry with fresh garlic, ginger and sesame oil (I like a bit of hot chili oil in it as well). Throw in chicken tenders (lots, mushrooms, sliced onions, celery, sliced water chestnuts and almond slivers. Leave out the thickener...you don't really need it! ;) You can do the same thing with beef, pork, shrimp, whatever you want really!


-Shelly :wave:

[cece p]

i always eat hot and sour soup without a problem

[DWRolfe]

I stir fry at home and love it!

I enjoy stir frying chicken, pork, beef, shrimp...peppers, mushrooms, onions, green beans, scallions, broccoli...it's all good!

You might be surprised how much you enjoy it and that you don't miss your favorite Chinese haunt nearly as much.

Try it...you'll like it!

Donald :roll:

[akelley]

Since I used to cook in a Chinese restaurant (in my "youth") I did a little research into the actual ingredients in most of the ingredients used in typical dishes. I was surprised to find out how much sugar is them. For example, oyster sauce is used in almost every "brown" sauce, which has a good amount of sugar in it. As does Hoisin sauce. Although, each is used in small quanities for a whole dish, so perhaps you're only getting a small portion of whatever sugar content is used.

As for the Hot and Sour soup, it's thickened with corn starch. Same with the egg drop soup. But even then, a small amount, so perhaps for some people, that small amount doesn't effect their fat burning process.

I remember in the restaurant I added a small amount of sugar to just about every dish I cooked.

I do cook Asian quite often at home, but was wary of the carb content in the soy, as that is so highly used. I do miss my rice, though - I think Asians are genetically predisposed to eating rice! Gotta have my rice! :)

(An interesting point I remember reading in my Dr. Atkins book was that he said that many Asians are actually allergic to rice...crazy? Me thinks so :) )

[sms1]

I have only had Chinese food once in the past year because of the sugar, corn starch, MSG, sauces, etc. I do miss having some really spicy stir fry.

I wonder if I went down to my friendly, local Chinese place (we used to be on a first name basis !), I wonder if we could sit down and com up with some LC options?

If I do, I'll keep you posted.

[Rosinar]

I'm just back on induction after a few weeks weeks off the wagon. I gained 6 lbs in those few weeks :( I am trying to get back into ketosis ans I was sure I would be by today. No luck. I had chinese chicken wings and a few pices of chicken teryaki. No sauces. Would these have high carb content? Rosie

[disneybebe]

Hi Rosie,
I'm sorry to tell u this but even w/o any sauces, the wings & the few pieces of chicken teryaki still have quite some carbs in them. It's because the chinese chefs use sugar & cornstarch (plus tons of things really) to marinate the meat. I'm sorry that I can't give u the exact carb count on what u had. Don't get too worried about it though, if u didn't have any sauces, the damage is only minimal. Personally, I'd say no to all chinese dishes on Induction. Good luck!
Bebe :wave: