It's no longer a novelty for modern people to dine out from time to time. Although you can taste fresh dishes that are hard to make at home, the delicious food restaurants prepare with "high oil, high salt, high sugar" and "rich, thick sauces" unknowingly compromises your health. How do nutritionists order food when they eat out? And how do they satisfy their palate while also protecting their health?
Control the portion size to avoid overeating
Fan Zhihong, an associate professor at the College of Food Science at China Agricultural University, says that nowadays when people dine out, they often order hot dishes by the person, then add cold dishes, soup, and dim sum, which usually results in leftovers. "When you enter a restaurant, pay attention to the portion sizes at other tables and order accordingly," she says.
While dining with a reporter, Xie Wenmei, Secretary-General of the Nutrition and Gourmet Committee of the Chinese Cuisine Association, also shared her tips for ordering. "For three people, ordering three hot dishes and one cold dish is just right. The three hot dishes can be a vegetarian dish, a meat dish, and a half-vegetable, half-meat dish. In terms of cooking methods, you can include stir-fries, braised dishes, and soups for a well-balanced meal." It's also important to note that the portion size of ordinary stir-fries is generally similar across restaurants, but some specialty dishes have larger portions, such as boiled fish, Northeastern braised dishes, and Dongpo pork. When ordering, you can ask the waiter to show you the size of the plate to avoid exclaiming when the food arrives, "It's such a large plate, we can't finish it!"
Fan Zhihong also noted that when ordering, you should consider the guests at the table. If there are more women and children, you can follow the principle of one dish per person. If there are more young men, you can add one or two more dishes accordingly.
Choosing the cooking method is more important than choosing the dish
"Nowadays, people consciously order healthier dishes when dining out. But many people choose the right ingredients but neglect the cooking method. In fact, choosing the cooking method is more important than choosing the dish itself," said Professor Chen Xiaofei, director of the Nutrition Department at Huadong Hospital in Shanghai. Taking tofu as an example, steaming or making soup is very healthy, but in some dishes, the tofu is first deep-fried and then braised—for example, the home-style tofu often eaten in the north. This adds a lot of extra oil and calories. Xie Wenmei also places great importance on cooking methods, a fact the reporter experienced firsthand while dining with her. Professor Xie ordered a vinegar and pepper fish, which is prepared by stewing the fish with enoki mushrooms into a clear broth, then seasoned with salt, pepper, and vinegar. "This dish has both vegetables and soup, is low in oil, and includes mushrooms, so it's very healthy," said Xie Wenmei. A common problem when dining out is ordering too many meat dishes and almost no vegetable dishes. Sometimes, there is only one plate of vegetables on a large table, and it's gone after everyone takes a bite. "We generally recommend that half the dishes on a table should be meat and half should be vegetables," Fan Zhihong said.
In addition, experts have offered the following advice on choosing cold dishes, hot dishes, and staple foods.
Choose freshly made cold dishes. Fan Zhihong says that cold dishes have less oil and can include both meat and vegetables. Ordering more light vegetarian dishes can balance the excess oil and protein in the main courses. However, most consumers habitually order cold meat dishes like soy-marinated beef, which negates this benefit. Better choices are mainly vegetarian dishes such as raw vegetable salads, vegetable dips with sauce, starchy foods (like buckwheat noodles, fern root noodles), root and tuber vegetables (like lotus root, yam), and fruit salads, supplemented with one or two low-oil meat and soy products. Chen Xiaofei, however, reminds that many cases of food poisoning are caused by cold dishes, so it's best to order freshly made and served cold dishes, such as a large mixed salad. Foods like salted duck and pickled chicken feet are often prepared in advance and refrigerated, and if the storage conditions are not up to standard, they can easily cause problems.
Lighter-flavored hot dishes are fresher. Northern Chinese tend to prefer stronger flavors, but a meal should have a mix of salty and bland, sour and spicy to avoid overwhelming the taste buds. "In fact, heavily seasoned cooking can mask the smell of stale ingredients, so restaurants often enthusiastically encourage customers to order such dishes," Chen Xiaofei said. "When I dine out, I rarely order food that has lost its original color and shape, and from which you can't taste the original flavor." Fan Zhihong suggests ordering some lightly seasoned dishes, such as steamed, blanched, or clear-braised dishes. One or two heavily flavored dishes is enough for a satisfying experience. Pair it with a small sour and spicy dish to refresh the palate.
Choose more steamed and boiled staple foods. At home, staple foods are often monotonous, but in restaurants, the options are endless: pumpkin cakes, scallion pancakes, durian crisps, Dandan noodles, steamed dumplings, buns, and more. "Generally, pastries and snacks with 'crispy' in their name contain a lot of oil to achieve that texture, so it's best to eat less of them," Chen Xiaofei said. "Because the dishes in restaurants contain much more oil than home-cooked meals, I usually only choose steamed or boiled staple foods for myself, such as clear broth noodles, steamed cornbread, wild vegetable balls, and vegetarian buns are also good. The fermented dough is easy to digest, and the filling is not greasy." "Many people eat the staple food last, which can easily lead to excessive calorie intake. Actually, it's best to serve the staple food halfway through the meal. This doesn't disrupt the atmosphere at the table and allows for healthier eating," said Xie Wenmei.
Barley tea, the best beverage to accompany a meal
When dining out, a drink is always essential. Carbonated drinks not only have very little nutritional value but can also hinder the digestive absorption of food. In contrast, pure fruit and vegetable juices, and fresh soy milk are good choices, and yogurt has a protective effect for those who drink alcohol.
"Because restaurant meals tend to be salty, people unknowingly consume a surprising number of calories from drinks," Xie Wenmei reminded. Zero-calorie tea is an excellent choice; you can drink Longjing in spring, chrysanthemum in summer, Tieguanyin in autumn, and black tea in winter. "However, I think the best drink is barley tea, which Koreans love. It not only has a light, sweet taste but also aids digestion and cuts through grease. A pot on the table is the most suitable thing."