Most Hong Kong people are food lovers, and delicious food plays an important part of their daily lives. Most of the time, a family gathering or social occasion is considered complete with a grand Chinese banquet. When we choose the dishes, however, our concern should not be limited to picking the food with nice appearance, aroma and taste. We should also adopt a healthy approach and bear in mind the importance of a balanced diet.
When ordering, aim for a suitable amount of food according to the number of people attending the feast and their appetite. Order food to satisfy our hunger but not our taste buds, and do not attempt to show our hospitality by the number and portion of the courses. Instead, we should order fewer dishes for a start, and place additional orders of rice, noodles or other dishes later on when needed. We can also ask for advice on the number of courses from the waiter to avoid ordering more than what is needed, which may cause overeating.
When choosing what to eat, we often take personal preference, the appearance and taste of food into account, but a balanced combination of food should be a more important factor to consider. Many people focus on ordering meat and fresh or dried seafood as the main courses, but tend to overlook vegetables and grains when dining out. However, no matter it is a Chinese or Western meal, the Healthy Eating Food Pyramid should be the principle to refer to when ordering food, i.e. vegetables and grains should be the main ingredients of the dishes. For example, a third to half of the ingredients of all dishes should be vegetables (e.g. leafy vegetables, sprouts, gourds, root vegetables and tubers, mushrooms and beans), with the rest being protein-rich food such as meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dried beans and its products. We should also consume an adequate amount of grains, such as rice or noodles. It would be ideal if the meal is finished with fruit as a substitute for desserts.
When selecting the dishes, we should order less dishes with ingredients that are high in fat, salt or sugar. We should also pay attention to the following principles:
The dishes should largely be prepared with low-fat cooking methods. Boiling, steaming, stewing, baking and braising in broth are some of the better ways to cook. Limit deep-fried food (e.g., sweet and sour pork, deep-fried crab claws and deep-fried chicken) and dishes with a lot of added condiments (e.g., spare ribs in sweetened vinegar, stir-fried beef in sweetened soy sauce). Also watch out for keywords such as “fried”, “deep-fried”, “with spicy salt”, “salted crispy”, “braised with sauce”, and “fried or sautéed in sauce”.. These words often indicate the excessive use of oil or salt in the dishes.
Try to limit fried or deep-fried desserts (e.g., fried doughnuts, pastry with red bean paste, fried mango rolls), as well as desserts that are made with ingredients high in saturated fat (e.g., coconut milk, coconut shreds and ingredients with added animal fat, such as lotus seed paste, red bean paste, custard and puff pastry). Lower fat alternatives include papaya and white fungus sweet soup, low-sugar red bean sweet soup and mung bean sweet soup. Although sesame sweet soup, walnut sweet soup and almond sweet soup contain less saturated fat that adversely affects heart health, they are desserts that high in total fat and should only be consumed in moderation.
As most of the desserts are prepared with a lot of added sugar choose fresh fruits as the desserts after a feast is recommended.
Serve water and plain tea as beverage. Avoid alcohol (including spirits, wines and beers) and limit sugary beverages (e.g., soft drinks and fruit juice). Consume low-sugar beverages (e.g., low-sugar green tea, low-sugar chrysanthemum tea and low-sugar soy milk) in moderation.
Sample 1: For general occasion (serves 8-10 persons)
Sample 2: Business dinner (serves 8-10 persons)
(Revised in August 2023)