6 Tips to Cook Chinese Food in a Healthy Way
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Chinese food is delicious when it is cooked in the right way. But when we order Chinese food from some restaurants, we often worry about how healthy it can be for us. If you go through all the points below, you can ensure that you don’t miss out on your favourite Chinese recipes and also cook them in a healthier way than restaurants:
Use Leaner Pieces of Meat
Most Chinese recipes include meat in it. Generally, it’s thought that the pieces of meat in a dish should be bulky. However, the thick pieces aren’t that healthy. That’s why you should opt for slicing thin pieces of meat before cooking. Lean slices in the dish don’t make much of a difference to the taste of the dish, rather, they sometimes improve it as each piece absorbs more flavours. Thin meat is comparatively healthier than bulky pieces.
Control the Amount of Salt You are Using
Salt is an important part of Chinese cooking. Most recipes require you to add some salt at different stages of cooking. Not only that, soy sauce, a heavily used ingredient in most of those dishes, also contains a lot of salt. This often leads to consuming higher amounts of sodium than your body requires. So, try to balance the amount of salt you put in your dish with the amount of salt in the seasonings. Often, the opposite is also quite true. Many dishes come along with a sweet seasoning which tends to reduce the overall sodium intake. Try to add sufficient amounts of salt to your dish.
Use as Little Oil as Possible
Frying is a common technique used in most Chinese recipes. The dishes either require you to simply stir-fry some ingredients or to deep fry some. This often leads to the food becoming oily and over time can be bad for your health. Try to work with as little oil as possible. When stir-frying, add only a few spoons of oil in your pan. Most ingredients that you stir fry, can also be steamed. Try to steam vegetables that you want in your dish for a healthy chinese food instead of stir-frying them to reduce your oil intake.
You don’t have to consume a lot of carbs while eating Chinese food
Rice and noodles are the core of Chinese cuisine. It is difficult to imagine having Chinese food without one of these ingredients. But both of them are heavy on carbs which when consumed in large quantities can negatively impact your health. In authentic Chinese culture, rice and noodles are offered in small quantities alongside other dishes. While most of us assume that we’d have to consume a large quantity of rice or noodles if we try Chinese food, the truth is quite the contrary. You can decide for yourself how much of these ingredients you want to consume. Try to consume very little of these two ingredients. Serve them in small portions along with other main dishes like sweet pork choi.
Use Fresh Ingredients
A critical part of Chinese cuisine is that you use fresh ingredients to cook the dishes. However, most of us tend to buy ingredients we require in large quantities and stash them in our pantry to use whenever we want to. While this does seem like an easy alternative to buying fresh ingredients whenever you want to cook, it is not that healthy. use as many fresh vegetables and fresh meat you can in your dishes. Not only do fresh ingredients enhance the taste of the recipe, but they also make it healthier.
Say No to MSG
MSG or Monosodium glutamate is widely used in Chinese dishes to enhance the taste of the food. While it is generally considered safe for consumption, large quantities of it can lead to a lot of problems in your body. You should restrict the use or reduce it’s usage to a minimum when cooking Chinese dishes. Use natural spices to add flavour to your dish. In fact, you can create a homemade substitute for MSG with soy sauce, sesame oil, and some other spices of your choice. This will help you add flavour to your food while also ensuring that it remains healthy.
Keep all of these points in mind whenever you set out to take out your cookbook and try your hand at Chinese recipes to ensure that you get to eat flavourful and healthy dishes.
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