Tips For Eating Healthfully At A Vietnamese Restaurant
If you are going to a Vietnamese restaurant to eat or if you are ordering takeout, you need to be certain that you continue to watch your health. It is easy to overeat at any restaurant and consume more calories than you would prefer. Here are some tips for maintaining your ability to eat healthfully at a Vietnamese restaurant.
1. Go With as Much Fresh and Grilled Food as Possible
If possible, avoid anything that is fried. For example, rather than purchasing the banh michien voitom, or the fried shrimp, get your delicious seafood fix by purchasing canh chua tom, or the sour and spicy shrimp soup. This will allow you to avoid consuming too many calories and fat but still manage to get the foods that you love into your diet.
Another switch that you can make is to swap out the fried spring rolls, or the cha gio, for goi cuon, the fresh spring roll. This will allow you to cut calories since you won't have the fried exterior, although you will still have all of the flavor and taste of the roll itself.
2. Eat More Fish
Vietnamese cuisine can be exciting because it can involve more fish than many people regularly get in their diets. Vietnamese restaurants will often have many different meals that contain fish for you to try, allowing you to get a delicious entree without consuming as many calories. This is due to the fact that fish tends to contain less fat and calories than other types of meat, regardless of how it is prepared, making it a better decision than duck, chicken, or pork.
Instead of eating vit quay, or roast duck, or oy heo xao chua ngot, or sweet and sour pork, try eating ca hap, which means steamed fish and whatever other sides that it is served with.
3. Use the Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
Finally, if you choose to add soy sauce to any part of your meal, be sure that you are using the low-sodium version, rather than the full-sodium version. This is going to make it easier for you to stay hydrated during and after the meal and reduce the amount of bloating that you might experience, making you feel thinner and fit into your clothing more easily, as well as put less strain on your heart.
For more information, talk to a restaurant like A Taste of Saigon.