Dining with best Asian Melbourne reflects the city’s wonderfully diverse cultural mix, meaning that pretty much any cuisine you can think of is covered across its countless places to eat. May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and we can celebrate those traditions by learning to cook healthy Asian food. Traditional Chinese food is a healthy, balanced diet. It is primarily based on green, leafy vegetables with a small amount of carbohydrate (rice or noodles) and meat (pork or chicken) or fish. However Chinese-American food, especially “takeout,” is quite different.
The problems with Chinese takeout and Chinese-American food include the heavy emphasis on meat, salt, sugar, and less healthy oils, and the use of MSG. America’s version of Chinese food is also carbohydrate-heavy, featuring large of white rice and noodles.
Want the taste without the nutritional disaster? Try these tips.
- increase the proportion of vegetables in a dish or meal to at least half
- cut the sugar use less oil (stir frying or steaming instead of deep frying)
- use low sodium soy sauce (575 mg vs 920mg sodium per tablespoon)
- use chicken breasts instead of chicken thighs, and remove skin
- use ground turkey instead of ground pork
- substitute tofu for meat (firm or extra firm)
- use brown rice instead of white rice
- use bean thread/glass/cellophane noodles, which are made of mung beans and therefore lower on the glycemic index. Or try zoodles.
We will learn about choosing healthy ingredients – and where to buy them – in my May 23rd Thrive Kitchen class on healthy Asian Cooking. The Thrive Kitchen offers cooking classes once a month on Tuesday evenings at the Kaiser Permanente Mission Bay Medical Offices, 1600 Owens St., from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Classes offer instruction and hands-on practice in healthy cooking techniques as well as the chance to enjoy a delicious meal made from scratch. The night’s menu will feature:
- Spinach and Tofu Potstickers with Spicy Dipping Sauce
- Kung Pao Tofu
- Brassica Fried Rice
- Quick Cucumber Pickles
- Stir Fried Asian Greens
- Sesame Zoodles