How to Count Calories in Chinese Food

While some Chinese-food dishes are loaded with fat, some can be prepared in a nutritious way. There are several ways to tell how many calories you are consuming with your Chinese dishes. Utilizing a variety of methods to determine the calorie counts can help consumers make choices to fit their lifestyles.

Instructions

Chinese Food at a Restaurant

• 1

  Sometimes restaurant menus include nutritional information.

  Review the menu for the caloric and nutritional information. Ask the waitress for a breakdown of the ingredients in the platter you are planning to eat. Ask for the amount of each ingredient used.

• 2

  Write down all the ingredients and the amount of each one used in your dish. Go online and research each ingredient. The Internet has an abundance of material on the caloric breakdown of food dishes and food ingredients.

• 3

  Write down your results. Store the work you have completed. Refer to it the next time you visit a restaurant.

Homemade Chinese Food

• 4

  Gather all the ingredients for your Chinese dish. Determine the caloric value for each of the ingredients per serving. If you are using condiments, write down the calories per serving for those items, too.

• 5

  Prepare your dish. Include the calories for any oil used in the overall caloric value of your entree.

• 6

  Write down how many calories are in the dish you made per serving and store it. You can divide up the dish into many mini-meals. This way you will know exactly how many calories are in each meal.