Introduction: A perfect banquet is not just about delicacies and fine wines, but more importantly, ensuring that people eat healthily and safely. Therefore, each of us, especially those who dine out frequently, should master the basic principles and techniques of ordering food.
In this issue, we will share with you the seven golden rules of ordering food.
1. Control the number of dishes.
When Chinese people are socializing, they often leave some food on the table, feeling that the meal is complete only when everyone has eaten their fill. In reality, everyone has likely overeaten. Moreover, when dining out, we usually have dinner, and eating too much not only increases the digestive burden on the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to discomfort when sleeping, but also the excessive intake of oil increases the risk of various chronic diseases like obesity. Here's a suggestion: for a meal for 10 people, 4 cold dishes and 8 hot dishes are sufficient. For a family gathering of 5 people, 5 dishes are usually enough.
2. Categorize dishes into three types.
The variety of dishes ordered is important and reflects the wisdom of the person ordering. Here's a suggestion for a meal for 10 people: with 4 cold dishes and 8 hot dishes, totaling 12 dishes, you should divide them into three categories:
First, order 4 meat dishes. There must be meat on the table. A principle for ordering meat dishes is to avoid repetition and to cover different types, ideally including aquatic products, livestock meat, and poultry.
Second, order 4 vegetable dishes, focusing on dark-colored vegetables. These include dark green vegetables like broccoli, lettuce, and celery; orange and yellow ones like carrots; and red and purple ones. These are all called dark-colored vegetables. Typically, dark-colored vegetables are high in beta-carotene and vitamin C content, which is higher than in ordinary vegetables. So, these 4 dishes should be vegetables, without repetition, mainly dark-colored, and you should try to include roots, stems, and leaves when ordering.
Third, order dishes that we often overlook and don't pay much attention to, such as bean products, fungi, algae, and tubers. Sometimes we might truly neglect these foods on the table, but they are very important for our health.
3. Order more steamed, boiled, and stewed dishes, and fewer fried, roasted, and grilled ones.
We suggest that you try to have fewer smoked, roasted, fried, and grilled dishes on the table, and more steamed, boiled, stewed, cold-dressed, and stir-fried ones. It is now well-known that oil produces carcinogens like benzopyrene when smoked, roasted, fried, or grilled, and protein produces carcinogens like heterocyclic amines under the same conditions. Therefore, from a health perspective, high-temperature cooking methods have few benefits besides giving food some special flavors and textures.
4. Order more sour and less salty dishes.
Our tongues are covered with taste bud cells that perceive sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty flavors. A successful meal should stimulate all these taste buds, allowing them to work and be moderately stimulated. Only then will our feeling after the meal be vivid and satisfying.
From a health and nutritional perspective, I would recommend more sour flavors. Nutritionally, the appearance of sour substances lowers the pH value of food, and under acidic conditions, the retention rate of many nutrients is improved. For example, vitamin C is more stable in acidic conditions, and vitamin B1 and B2 are also more easily preserved. Most nutrients sensitive to pH generally prefer an acidic environment. Additionally, from a perspective of salt control, excessive salt intake increases the risk of high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer. If we add more vinegar to our food, it can help us control our salt intake.
5. Have a greater variety of staple foods.
First, determine the quantity based on needs, then the variety of staple foods. It's best if the staple foods reflect food diversity; for example, some restaurants now offer "eight-treasure rice," two-grain rice, or three-grain rice—try to include as many types of grains as possible. Finally, consider the flavor and cooking method of the staple foods. We recommend eating more light staple foods, mainly coarse grains. Also, do not replace staple foods with pastries; behind their delicious taste, pastries often contain high sugar, oil, or salt. The pastries we usually eat, such as cakes and durian pastries, generally have an oil content of around 40%.
6. Alcohol should be consumed in moderation, and lower-proof is better.
When we drink, we have many choices: baijiu, yellow wine, wine, and beer. From a health perspective, it is recommended to choose lower-proof options. I would more often choose red wine, yellow wine, and beer. The proof of red wine is around 10-13 degrees, yellow wine is generally 15 degrees (up to 20), and beer is 3-4 degrees. These proofs are relatively mild among all types of alcohol. At the same time, we encourage people to drink red wine and yellow wine more because they are brewed from natural foods and not distilled, unlike baijiu and other spirits, which concentrate the alcohol and discard many other nutrients during distillation. Fermented red wine and yellow wine, on the other hand, basically retain the nutrients from the original grains or fruits, making them relatively healthier. Additionally, there is a recommended amount for alcohol consumption: men should not exceed 25 grams of alcohol per day, and women should not exceed 12 grams.
7. Stay away from blended beverages.
We recommend drinking more light tea, plain water, soy milk, yogurt, and homemade sour plum soup or mung bean soup. These are all good beverage choices. Also, 100% fruit juice, freshly squeezed, is acceptable. Stay away from beverages blended with food additives that are harmless but offer no health benefits.