From Jan/Feb '99

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EATING OUT WITH EASE

Order brown rice in a Chinese restaurant and you will likely get white rice mixed with soy sauce. But white rice is not so unhealthy. It has nourished billions of Asians and they have been free of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and our most common cancers (of course, unrefined, whole grain rice is better). Chinese cooking is done from scratch, so the order you give to the waitress is crucial. Be clear that you want your food vegetarian, with no added oils and cooked on a clean, no-oil, pan or griddle. For an appetizer order steamed vegetable potstickers or steamed vegetable buns. Follow with "Bean Curd with Vegetable Soup," "Assorted Vegetable Soup," "Sizzling Rice Soup," or "Corn Soup." If the soup listed on the menu has animal products in the ingredients ask that they not be added--the stock they are working from is likely vegetarian (ask!).

For main dish ask if they have a "Monk’s dish." This is a mix of vegetables cooked in a ginger sauce. "Mu Shu Vegetables" is found in every Chinese restaurant. The dish is served with rice flour pancakes, a vegetable mix and plum sauce. Layer the vegetable into the pancakes and top with plum sauce, then roll up as a burrito and eat. Try "Sautéed Broccoli with Chinese Mushrooms," "Snow Peas with Water Chestnuts," "Black Mushrooms and Bamboo Shoots," "Steamed Eggplant with Spicy Sauce," or "Sautéed Cabbage," served over steamed rice. Many dishes are made with bean curd (tofu) and vegetables--but be sure to ask that your bean curd be steamed, not fried. Sometimes you can get a noodle dish such as "Mushroom Chow Mein" (thin noodles) or "Vegetarian Chow Fun" cooked without oil. Ask for a dish to be made for you with steamed rice noodles, vegetables and a non-oil based sauce. If all else fails, ask for steamed mixed vegetables with a non-oil based sauce and some white rice.

Dessert is easy because dairy is not used (Chinese are lactose intolerant). Order "Chilled Lychee" or "Mixed Fruit Bowl."

People joke about feeling hungry an hour after a Chinese dinner filled with vegetables. That’s just because most Americans equate fullness with a lump of partially chewed muscle and a cup of fat in their stomach. This is more discomfort than satiety. True long-term satisfaction of appetite comes from loading the system with carbohydrates which signal the brain you have eaten sufficiently.

From Jan/Feb '99

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