Low Calorie Dining - How to Eat Healthy at a Chinese Restaurant?

The authentic Chinese delicacies are rich in vegetables and usually cooked with little or no oil, owing to which they can be made a part of a low-calorie diet. However, the food offered at the Chinese restaurants in the West is nothing but a 'Westernized' version of the traditional Chinese food. These American-Chinese and Canadian-Chinese cuisines are rich in fat and calories and hence, it is very necessary to make healthy choices from the Western-Chinese food menu if you are following a strict low-calorie diet.

Following are a few guidelines that will help to eat healthy at your favorite Chinese restaurant:

1) When it comes to placing an order for appetizers, you should avoid foods like egg rolls and spareribs. Instead, you can opt for egg drop or wonton soups. Any low calorie broth-based soups will best suit your diet plan.

2) Other main course dishes that you can order include Chinese delicacies, such as the Shrimp Chow Mien, Moo Goo Gai Pan, Steamed Spring Rolls, Teriyaki Chicken Skewer, and Chicken served with broccoli and Chop Suey.

3) Any dish that includes steamed or boiled chicken or shrimp, and steamed vegetables is a good choice.

4) Do not order dishes that are made with sweet and thick sauces. Also, avoid any food that is battered or floured and then deep-fried. A dish prepared with loads of vegetables and little oil is the best choice you can make. Instead of the deep-fried foods, you can opt for the stir-fried, roasted or broiled ones.

5) Although fried rice is one of the most popular Chinese foods, it should be strictly avoided if you are really keen on following your low-calorie diet plan. Fried rice, especially the one made with eggs, is rich in fats and cholesterol and is a big 'NO' when it comes to including Chinese foods in your diet plan. If you are fond of rice, you can try brown rice that is healthier than fried rice.

6) Think twice before placing an order for dished that are described as "crispy" or "battered" in the food menu. Also watch out for dishes that include noodles, chow mien, and marinades.

7) Other bad choices would include Kung Pao chicken, crispy duck, dishes laden with rich sauces like Hoi sin, dumplings, and lo mien.

To conclude, Chinese cuisine offers a lot of healthy choices that can be made a part of your health diet, but you need to be prepared before visiting your favorite Chinese restaurant.

Find more informative articles and tips on Cooking Low-Calorie Chinese Food to experience the flavor of the rich Chinese Cuisine. Use the unique Chinese Food Locator to find some of the best Chinese Restaurants in your city.

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Minori Dining & Sake Bar: Harvesting Fine Food With Flair

A new addition to the snaking list of Japanese restaurants in Singapore is Minori Dining & Sake Bar @ UE Square Shopping Mall. Garnering loyal patronage even from Japanese expatriates, Minori has indeed managed to park itself at the top of the aforementioned list. Set up in mid-2007 by Mr. Thomas Loh, Minori recreates the flavours of Japan in a 5-stars style at bargain prices.

This spacious restaurant boasts a large dining area that seats 150, two private dining rooms that seat 24 and a private tatami corner that seats 12. Despite the size, this restaurant still exudes a sense of cosiness and comfort. This, perhaps, can be attributed to Minori's décor concept, which centers on the theme, of the reaping season. "Minori", by the way, is Japanese for "harvest". Minori's (the restaurant) interior decoration is cleverly pulled together by artistic elements such as murals of rice harvests and art installations of dried reeds – perfect complements to Minori's mahogany colour palette, dim lighting and spaciousness.

The good people at Minori are set on ensuring that every diner – from the buffet fanatic, to the corporate luncher, and to the sake barfly – gets his fill.
For the buffet fanatic, a whopping 120-item buffet menu consisting of fresh sashimi, sush i, teppanyaki dishes, sumiyaki dishes and cooked dishes awaits at Minori. For starters, Minori's sashimi selection includes fresh, thickly-sliced salmon, tuna, black king fish, octopus, yellowtail, snapper and cuttlefish. If you want to sample an assortment of several sashimis at once, opt for the Sashimi Moriwase, a visually-appealing platter of five kinds of sashimis of your choice. Minori's Temaki ( Hand Roll) selection also enjoys a wide assortment of at least 17.
On the other hand, if you have room for only three, the California, Ebi Tempura and Spider hand rolls are best choices. These hand rolls are filled with generous contents of crabmeat, avocado and crunchy vegetables; tempura prawns that are deep-fried to perfection; and crispy deep-fried soft-shell crab respectively. If you are feeling adventurous, the Kabocha No Fukume Ni (Japanese pumpkin simmered in special sweet sauce) will see to that. Notably a favourite amongst ladies, this unique appetizer is hard on the outside, soft on the inside and sweet inside-out.
If your meal needs some beefing up, sample the Gyuniku Shogatayaki (beef strips pan-fried in special sauce and garnished with onions) – one of Minori's many signature dishes. To get the most out of this tender beef dish, pick up some beef strips together with some onions garnishing and dip thickly into the special chef's sauce. If you prefer white meat though, the Tori Teppan (chicken teppanyaki ) – marinated bits of tender and juicy chicken – is a must-have. And not forgetting the carbs-addicts, curb your cravings with the Unagi Yaki Meshi, fragrant fried rice that is generously served with fried eel and egg.
Should you choose to forgo the all-that-you-can-eat buffet, fret not; Minori's ala carte menu is all about exclusive flair. Minori's Sunshine Maki ($15), for instance, comprises succulent grilled chicken rolled with nori (seaweed) and wrapped with a thick layer of sweet mango cream. The Hotate Meintai Chizu ($18) consists of baked-to-perfection scallops that are lavishly garnished with high-quality cod roe and layered with melted cheese. Minori even manages to inject a culinary swish into the traditional century egg – by using it as a puree atop the delectable, chilled egg custard in its cold appetizer, Minori Pi Dan Tofu ($8). Need warming up? Let the miso soup take a back seat this time and allow the steaming Lobster Nabe Steamboat soup ($18) to take you to feverish heights of satisfaction.
Apart from these, Minori also caters to the corporate luncher by offering reasonably-priced executive lunch set; and to the sake barfly by offering an extensive beverage list of Japanese beers, sakes and shochu. There is something for everyone here.

Mimicking the Japanese's reputation for good manners, the wait staffs are professional and prompt. Empty dishes are quickly cleared away and water glasses are swiftly refilled. During busy periods, restaurant owner Mr. Thomas Loh even helps out on the floor.
The SD Food Advisor's Take on Minori
Minori is, as local foodies go, "die-die must try!" With something to offer everyone, from an eight-year-old to an eighty-year-old, it is the perfect venue for a family outing. The all-you-can-eat buffet especially is value-for-money, with prices ranging from $28++ (adults) for lunch and $32++ (adults) for dinner. As for the ala carte menu, some may find the prices a tad pricey, but for food with exclusive flair, it is justified.

Author Bio:
This petite wordsmith and literary mistress sure dream big: She wishes to place herself alongside the likes of legendary travel writer Paul Edward Theroux and celebrated food writer Alan Eaton Davidson as she unveils only the best of Singapore’s hot zones and sizzling kitchens. For this, Ezaida digs going “off the beaten track” to take her alike-minded audience on a Singaporean road less-traveled.

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Dining Out - Eat Smart

According to the National Restaurant Association, 78 percent of the adults agree that going out to eat gives them an opportunity to socialize and is a better use of their time than cooking and cleaning up. At the same time, 73 percent say they try to eat healthier now at restaurants than they did a couple of years ago.

Dining out can post serious problems for people trying to both eat out and eat smart. Restaurant foods notoriously contain oil, butter, cheese, meat drippings, fatty meat and other saturated fats. Most of the foods are pan fried, deep dried, sauteed, grill fried or fried. Restaurant meals can be extremely high in salt, sugar and saturated fats, mostly from animal sources such as beef, pork, lamb, veal and poultry where cholesterol is found.

At this point, you the consumer have a couple of options. Number one, you can eat what the restaurant serves you or number two, stop going to restaurants. There is a third option to have a basic understanding of salt, sugar, fat and cholesterol in foods and reconcile your dining out with eating smart. Your dining experience can be both enjoyable and healthful.

Ask questions about ingredients and how the meal is prepared. Most establishments will be happy to help you if you just ask. Often personnel are very knowledgeable about food content and cooking methods. Be innovative, avoid the menu items you know to stay away from such as French fries, fried chicken, fried hamburgers, milkshakes, pickles, potato chips, processed cold cuts, sour cream, Thousand Island Dressing and so forth. Create substitutions to strip away the unhealthy elements of the menu items but preserve the taste and semblance of the dish.

Try a club sandwich without the bacon. Skip cream soups in favor of chicken or beef broth. Ask your server for pasta, mushrooms or a slice of tomato to add. Instead of sour cream on your baked potato try salsa. If you are having lobster or steamed clams, use fresh lemon wedges instead o f butter. For breakfast order your eggs poached or boiled, not fried. Have Eggs Benedict or Eggs Florentine without the Hollandaise sauce.

There are many enjoyable restaurant foods that will conform to eating smart. Don't take the approach that you can't eat out any longer because you are eating smart. Open your mind to the endless possibilities available and get into the main stream of life. Ask questions, make substitutions, become educated and enjoy.

Scott Tranter is also known as the Diner Wizard.

He is a leading authority on finding, developing and maintaining the passion in your career. His gift of teaching others how to pursue and achieve their passion is magical and will ignite enthusiasm and be the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment! He has successfully opened 12 restaurants and serves as a consultant to a chain in California, as well as a consultant to a culinary arts trade school. He is currently a restaurant owner/operator. He is a ServSafe Instructor/Proctor for the National Restaurant Association and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. He writes a food column entitled "Cooking Class." Please visit his website at http://www.dinerwizard.com.

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Dining Out - Eat Smart

According to the National Restaurant Association, 78 percent of the adults agree that going out to eat gives them an opportunity to socialize and is a better use of their time than cooking and cleaning up. At the same time, 73 percent say they try to eat healthier now at restaurants than they did a couple of years ago.

Dining out can post serious problems for people trying to both eat out and eat smart. Restaurant foods notoriously contain oil, butter, cheese, meat drippings, fatty meat and other saturated fats. Most of the foods are pan fried, deep dried, sauteed, grill fried or fried. Restaurant meals can be extremely high in salt, sugar and saturated fats, mostly from animal sources such as beef, pork, lamb, veal and poultry where cholesterol is found.

Pan Fried Chicken

At this point, you the consumer have a couple of options. Number one, you can eat what the restaurant serves you or number two, stop going to restaurants. There is a third option to have a basic understanding of salt, sugar, fat and cholesterol in foods and reconcile your dining out with eating smart. Your dining experience can be both enjoyable and healthful.

Ask questions about ingredients and how the meal is prepared. Most establishments will be happy to help you if you just ask. Often personnel are very knowledgeable about food content and cooking methods. Be innovative, avoid the menu items you know to stay away from such as French fries, fried chicken, fried hamburgers, milkshakes, pickles, potato chips, processed cold cuts, sour cream, Thousand Island Dressing and so forth. Create substitutions to strip away the unhealthy elements of the menu items but preserve the taste and semblance of the dish.

Try a club sandwich without the bacon. Skip cream soups in favor of chicken or beef broth. Ask your server for pasta, mushrooms or a slice of tomato to add. Instead of sour cream on your baked potato try salsa. If you are having lobster or steamed clams, use fresh lemon wedges instead o f butter. For breakfast order your eggs poached or boiled, not fried. Have Eggs Benedict or Eggs Florentine without the Hollandaise sauce.

There are many enjoyable restaurant foods that will conform to eating smart. Don't take the approach that you can't eat out any longer because you are eating smart. Open your mind to the endless possibilities available and get into the main stream of life. Ask questions, make substitutions, become educated and enjoy.

Dining Out - Eat Smart

Scott Tranter is also known as the Diner Wizard.

He is a leading authority on finding, developing and maintaining the passion in your career. His gift of teaching others how to pursue and achieve their passion is magical and will ignite enthusiasm and be the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment! He has successfully opened 12 restaurants and serves as a consultant to a chain in California, as well as a consultant to a culinary arts trade school. He is currently a restaurant owner/operator. He is a ServSafe Instructor/Proctor for the National Restaurant Association and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. He writes a food column entitled "Cooking Class." Please visit his website at http://www.dinerwizard.com.

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