New here, but when I realized Chinese could be a low carb option, I was so excited.

So, here's my take; first, find real Chinese food. Most "Chinese" places make food for Americans who love sugar and tamed down "Americanized" Chinese food. For instance, Chinese people dont eat General Tso's Chicken...because its NOT Chinese food! Its one of the many inventions Chinese cooks made to satisfy the American Palate.

Look for and learn to love authentic Chinese food. Most of it is not what most Americans (assuming this is an American Website) are eating THINKING they are eating Chinese food. Looking in to ACTUAL Chinese food you will discover its not all sweet, thick, saucy dishes.

For me this is easy because I have been searching out and finding authentic Chinese food in my area. There are many selections in real Chinese food that are not unlike a dish you might make yourself at home...like a basic stir fry. What can be hard to find out is if a dish has sugar or cornstarch or flour, etc. in it before ordering...usually because in an actual Chinese place, there is going to be a bit of a language barrier...plus, nobody likes that diet freak that has to know every single thing, allergens, etc. that may be in the food and complains that the rest of the world is not catering to THEIR diet issues!

I started eating less rice years ago. First as a strategy to get my money's worth at buffets...it was always silly to me to go to a buffet of all these potentially great foods, and fill up on rice...but for some people, they simply cant "Chinese" without the rice...and THAT may be the closest thing to actual Chinese eating they do! Because the Chinese DO use a lot of rice to stretch their proteins. Since discovering authentic Chinese food, I simply find myself naturally not eating much rice with any Chinese food these days, so not having any will be a breeze for me (I'm just starting my diet tomorrow).

Also, with the exception of the rice that Chinese people always eat, pay attention to any Asian people in the restaurants you go to and ask someone what THEY are eating. You dont see many fat Asians do you? The funny thing is, many of the times I have done this, I exposed a fact that most people dont know...Chinese people dont eat what they are feeding their customers!...at least not in the places that cater to the American Palate only. Often what you see them eating is home cooked food not on the menu!

I stopped eating at Chinese buffets. What I mean by that, is I dont eat steam table food. I'm am finding that most buffet food is just not that good...but then again I cook pretty well, so I'm a bit snobby I guess. The only Chinese buffet I go to in my town anymore has sushi! I know, that's Japanese, but real sushi places will crush your budget...a Chinese buffet with decent sushi can be had for $8-$16 all you can eat...that's a good deal. I mostly eat a big plate of sushi with soy sauce and wasabi on the side, some Kimchi if they have it (That's Korean actually) and a bowl of broth from the wonton soup with hot chili sauce and green onions in it. Then I may...or may not have a very small sampling of a few steam table options, but almost never the saucy or sticky looking stuff and never, even when I'm not dieting, do I eat anything like spring rolls or the other fried selections... I prefer to deep fry at home and simply do it far better than any buffet food.

That said...While I always removed at least half of the rice from my sushi and sometimes all of it, Sushi technically has rice, and I'm about to quit rice for a while. So, "Sashimi" is the ticket...basically raw fish and no rice. But some restaurants charge extra for that because they want you to fill up on rice! Fortunately the place I go to hasn't run me off yet. I stopped going to the sushi chain restaurant in my area because they get upset when you dont eat the rice. It's all you can eat, except they charge more for the meat without the rice! I find that outrageous, they are rigid about it, so I simply do not spend my money there anymore. You can go to many decent grocery chains and buy shashimi these days.

So, once you have found a Chinese restaurant that offers "authentic" Chinese food...one with tables where you actually sit down and order and tip your server...try talking to your server before you order. No, not to blame the restaurant for not catering to everyone's pain in the rear dietary issues, but to ask about the food they serve. Ask them what they eat, what actual Chinese people like on the menu, and sure, tell them you are looking for something without a lot of sugar or cornstarch. Don't use terms like "Is this low carb?"...they are not in your diet world, they are not there to explain what items are "Atkins friendly". BUT, they do understand words like sugar, corn starch, flour and they often have seen the food being cooked and may know whether a dish is sweet or has a thickener in it. When I express interest in "Actual" Chinese food at a proper Chinese restaurant, I usually get a fairly good reaction from the server who likes the fact that I'm interested in the real deal stuff and enjoys helping me choose. It depends on the restaurant, but I have good luck at the the places in my area that have actual Chinese food.

My preferences is Szechuan, but I love spicy food. Beware, just because a menu says Szechuan doesn't mean the dish is authentic. Many take out Chinese menus dont even have the real stuff on it because most Americans are clueless about the actual cuisine of China and dont like it. They are looking for the same old stuff you see on every menu everywhere. Like many Mexican places (a whole other conversation), they have developed menus based on what has sold well for decades to Americans, not real Chinese food.