Lizard King
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- Sep 9, 2010
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Sort of an oxymoron but here ya go, lol
I'm pretty sure the place by my house is worse then all of these!
What's the last thing you're likely to find in a Chinese restaurant in America? A trained chef. Even though there are three times more Chinese restaurants in America than there are McDonald's, there's very little real Chinese cooking going on. Whatever authenticity that once might have existed has long since been warped by years of exposure to American taste.
As the authors of the new Eat This, Not That! 2011, we've identified the six worst Chinese meals in the country. Ditch the disasters below for our delicious swaps and save up to 1,500 calories in one sitting! That means even if you order Chinese twice a month you can still lose 12 pounds a year by making smart swaps. Here's how:
P.F. Chang's Chicken Noodle SoupWorst Soup
P.F. Chang’s Chicken Noodle Soup (bowl)
600 calories
20 g fat (5 g saturated)
2,550 mg sodium
SODIUM EQUIVALENT: 3 Large Burger King French Fries
Yes, chicken noodle soup is more American than Chinese, but P.F. Chang’s has lent its own spicy spin to this classic. This means they’ve added a few extra ingredients to the mix, not to mention an excessive load of calories and sodium—which is P.F. Chang’s calling card. The restaurant claims this soup should be shared (along with most of their entrées), but how many people realistically share soup with three other people for dinner? Go with a cup of the egg drop soup and you’ll still get great flavors for one-tenth the calories.
Eat This Instead!
Egg Drop Soup (cup)
60 calories
3 g fat
640 mg sodium
Manchu Wok Honey Garlic ChickenWorst Chicken Combo Meal
Manchu Wok Honey Garlic Chicken with Fried Rice and Seafood Rangoon
1,140 calories
55 g fat (13 g saturated)
2,340 mg sodium
FAT EQUIVALENT: 5.5 Wendy's Medium Chocolate Frostys
Where to begin with this dish? For starters, every single ingredient on this plate has been fried in one way or another. On top of that, the chicken is drenched in a sugary glaze and the rangoon is stuffed with super fatty cream cheese. This is the type of takeout meal that’ll end up taking you out. (If you're shocked by the caloric heft of this dish, wait till you see what made this shocking list of The Worst Chicken Dishes in America. Some of those items make this dish look like a multivitamin.) However, if you absolutely must indulge in a fried side, replace Manchu's 300-calorie rangoon with a 150-calorie egg roll. Skip both and you'll be even better off.
Eat This Instead!
Chicken with Snow Peas and Steamed Rice
510 calories
9 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
713 mg sodium
P.F. Chang's Mu Shu PorkWorst Pork Entrée
P.F. Chang’s Mu Shu Pork w/ Pancakes and Hoisin Sauce
1,210 calories
58 g fat (14 g saturated)
5,820 mg sodium
SODIUM EQUIVALENT: 43 Utz Pretzel Rods
Pork and vegetables—even with thin pancakes for wrapping-—shouldn’t be a horrible meal, and yet this dish accounts for roughly half of your day’s calories and almost two full days’ worth of sodium. You can blame the side of Hoisin for the latter. The Chinese dipping sauce is extra briny. Stick with the Hong Kong Beef and you’ll escape fairly unscathed.
Bonus tip: For more tasty and delicious swaps for all of your favorite foods, be sure to check out The 20 Best Restaurant Foods in America. You'll lose weight without ever dieting--the Eat This, Not That! mantra.
Eat This Instead!
Hong Kong Beef with Snow Peas
620 calories
28 g fat (6 g saturated)
1,852 mg sodium
Panda Express Beijing BeefWorst Beef Combo Meal
Panda Express Beijing Beef and Fried Rice with a Veggie Spring Roll
1,420 calories
66 g fat (13 g saturated)
2,370 mg sodium
FAT EQUIVALENT: 11 Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls
The easiest way to eat smart and healthy at a Chinese restaurant is to scrap the rice and noodles entirely. By replacing empty carbohydrates with more meat and vegetables, you’ll get more flavors and more nutrients—and the extra protein will keep you feeling full for longer. As for the spring roll, I like them when they skip the deep-fryer. Unfortunately, Panda’s don’t.
Bonus tip: For incredible daily secrets about how to save calories, time, and money when you're on the go, follow me right here on Twitter or sign up for our FREE Eat This, Not That! newsletter.
Eat This Instead!
Pineapple Chicken and Broccoli and Beef
370 calories
16 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
1,430 mg sodium
Worst Noodle Combo Meal
P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo
1,820 calories
84 g fat (8 g saturated)
7,692 mg sodium
SODIUM EQUIVALENT: 2 full boxes of Ritz Crackers
Sure, Chinese food is notorious for its higher-than-usual salt factor, but few dishes we’ve seen come anywhere close to this number. This dish carries the dubious distinction of being America’s saltiest restaurant meal—and even made our blow-your-mind list of the 20 Worst Foods in America 2010. It packs enough sodium to meet your body’s needs for more than 3 days. And the rest of Chang’s noodle options—and menu in general—aren’t much better. Go with the salmon and you’ll save almost 1,200 calories while getting plenty of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Eat This Instead!
Asian Grilled Salmon with Rice
690 calories
12 g fat (4 g saturated)
1,430 mg sodium
Applebee's Crispy Orange Chicken BowlWORST CHINESE MEAL IN AMERICA
Applebee’s Crispy Orange Chicken Bowl
2,030 calories
80 g fat (15 g saturated, 1 g trans)
4,480 mg sodium
CALORIE EQUIVALENT: 10 Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts
Any meal that consists of fried chicken coated in viscous sauce is bound to be a caloric catastrophe. With more than a day's worth of calories and fat, this dish is doomsday in a bowl. With a lean chicken breast, a generous helping of mushrooms, and a tangy Dijon sauce, the Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos is the perfect meal for an adventurous palate. Just make sure you ask for a side of broccoli—the extra potassium will help balance out the high sodium intake.
Eat This Instead!
Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos
450 calories
16 g fat (6 g saturated)
1,810 mg sodium
Bonus tip: Chinese restaurants are riddled with nutritional minefields, but the aisles of your local supermarket can be just as bad. Before your next grocery run, arm yourself with this list of The Best Supermarket Foods of 2010! You'll know how to indulge and protect your waistline, without spending hours trying to decipher food labels.
I'm pretty sure the place by my house is worse then all of these!
What's the last thing you're likely to find in a Chinese restaurant in America? A trained chef. Even though there are three times more Chinese restaurants in America than there are McDonald's, there's very little real Chinese cooking going on. Whatever authenticity that once might have existed has long since been warped by years of exposure to American taste.
As the authors of the new Eat This, Not That! 2011, we've identified the six worst Chinese meals in the country. Ditch the disasters below for our delicious swaps and save up to 1,500 calories in one sitting! That means even if you order Chinese twice a month you can still lose 12 pounds a year by making smart swaps. Here's how:
P.F. Chang's Chicken Noodle SoupWorst Soup
P.F. Chang’s Chicken Noodle Soup (bowl)
600 calories
20 g fat (5 g saturated)
2,550 mg sodium
SODIUM EQUIVALENT: 3 Large Burger King French Fries
Yes, chicken noodle soup is more American than Chinese, but P.F. Chang’s has lent its own spicy spin to this classic. This means they’ve added a few extra ingredients to the mix, not to mention an excessive load of calories and sodium—which is P.F. Chang’s calling card. The restaurant claims this soup should be shared (along with most of their entrées), but how many people realistically share soup with three other people for dinner? Go with a cup of the egg drop soup and you’ll still get great flavors for one-tenth the calories.
Eat This Instead!
Egg Drop Soup (cup)
60 calories
3 g fat
640 mg sodium
Manchu Wok Honey Garlic ChickenWorst Chicken Combo Meal
Manchu Wok Honey Garlic Chicken with Fried Rice and Seafood Rangoon
1,140 calories
55 g fat (13 g saturated)
2,340 mg sodium
FAT EQUIVALENT: 5.5 Wendy's Medium Chocolate Frostys
Where to begin with this dish? For starters, every single ingredient on this plate has been fried in one way or another. On top of that, the chicken is drenched in a sugary glaze and the rangoon is stuffed with super fatty cream cheese. This is the type of takeout meal that’ll end up taking you out. (If you're shocked by the caloric heft of this dish, wait till you see what made this shocking list of The Worst Chicken Dishes in America. Some of those items make this dish look like a multivitamin.) However, if you absolutely must indulge in a fried side, replace Manchu's 300-calorie rangoon with a 150-calorie egg roll. Skip both and you'll be even better off.
Eat This Instead!
Chicken with Snow Peas and Steamed Rice
510 calories
9 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
713 mg sodium
P.F. Chang's Mu Shu PorkWorst Pork Entrée
P.F. Chang’s Mu Shu Pork w/ Pancakes and Hoisin Sauce
1,210 calories
58 g fat (14 g saturated)
5,820 mg sodium
SODIUM EQUIVALENT: 43 Utz Pretzel Rods
Pork and vegetables—even with thin pancakes for wrapping-—shouldn’t be a horrible meal, and yet this dish accounts for roughly half of your day’s calories and almost two full days’ worth of sodium. You can blame the side of Hoisin for the latter. The Chinese dipping sauce is extra briny. Stick with the Hong Kong Beef and you’ll escape fairly unscathed.
Bonus tip: For more tasty and delicious swaps for all of your favorite foods, be sure to check out The 20 Best Restaurant Foods in America. You'll lose weight without ever dieting--the Eat This, Not That! mantra.
Eat This Instead!
Hong Kong Beef with Snow Peas
620 calories
28 g fat (6 g saturated)
1,852 mg sodium
Panda Express Beijing BeefWorst Beef Combo Meal
Panda Express Beijing Beef and Fried Rice with a Veggie Spring Roll
1,420 calories
66 g fat (13 g saturated)
2,370 mg sodium
FAT EQUIVALENT: 11 Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls
The easiest way to eat smart and healthy at a Chinese restaurant is to scrap the rice and noodles entirely. By replacing empty carbohydrates with more meat and vegetables, you’ll get more flavors and more nutrients—and the extra protein will keep you feeling full for longer. As for the spring roll, I like them when they skip the deep-fryer. Unfortunately, Panda’s don’t.
Bonus tip: For incredible daily secrets about how to save calories, time, and money when you're on the go, follow me right here on Twitter or sign up for our FREE Eat This, Not That! newsletter.
Eat This Instead!
Pineapple Chicken and Broccoli and Beef
370 calories
16 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
1,430 mg sodium
Worst Noodle Combo Meal
P.F. Chang’s Double Pan-Fried Noodles Combo
1,820 calories
84 g fat (8 g saturated)
7,692 mg sodium
SODIUM EQUIVALENT: 2 full boxes of Ritz Crackers
Sure, Chinese food is notorious for its higher-than-usual salt factor, but few dishes we’ve seen come anywhere close to this number. This dish carries the dubious distinction of being America’s saltiest restaurant meal—and even made our blow-your-mind list of the 20 Worst Foods in America 2010. It packs enough sodium to meet your body’s needs for more than 3 days. And the rest of Chang’s noodle options—and menu in general—aren’t much better. Go with the salmon and you’ll save almost 1,200 calories while getting plenty of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Eat This Instead!
Asian Grilled Salmon with Rice
690 calories
12 g fat (4 g saturated)
1,430 mg sodium
Applebee's Crispy Orange Chicken BowlWORST CHINESE MEAL IN AMERICA
Applebee’s Crispy Orange Chicken Bowl
2,030 calories
80 g fat (15 g saturated, 1 g trans)
4,480 mg sodium
CALORIE EQUIVALENT: 10 Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts
Any meal that consists of fried chicken coated in viscous sauce is bound to be a caloric catastrophe. With more than a day's worth of calories and fat, this dish is doomsday in a bowl. With a lean chicken breast, a generous helping of mushrooms, and a tangy Dijon sauce, the Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos is the perfect meal for an adventurous palate. Just make sure you ask for a side of broccoli—the extra potassium will help balance out the high sodium intake.
Eat This Instead!
Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos
450 calories
16 g fat (6 g saturated)
1,810 mg sodium
Bonus tip: Chinese restaurants are riddled with nutritional minefields, but the aisles of your local supermarket can be just as bad. Before your next grocery run, arm yourself with this list of The Best Supermarket Foods of 2010! You'll know how to indulge and protect your waistline, without spending hours trying to decipher food labels.
