Healthy & Delicious: Ho Wah

This week Healthy & Delicious visits , located at the corner of Cedar and Richmond Road in the lower level of LaPlace.

For those who live in Beachwood, you know Ho Wah is the go-to Chinese restaurant, especially during the holiday season.

When I moved to Beachwood, one of my biggest concerns was finding a good Chinese restaurant. Like many of you, I grew up going to a Chinese restaurant and a movie on Christmas Day. After meeting my husband, I learned a new set of holiday traditions, like decorating the Christmas tree and eating at 2 in the afternoon. Last year, my husband celebrated his first “Jewish” Christmas – at Ho Wah. 

Chinese food can be healthy if you order steamed seafood, chicken, and veggie dishes. However, Chinese restaurant dishes are full of sodium and calories.

According to the CDC, 68 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure (140/90≥ mmHg). High blood pressure, along with heart attacks and stroke are associated with high sodium intake. Current daily guidelines for sodium intake for “healthy” adults are less than 2,300 mg of sodium (1 teaspoon!) and 1,500 mg of sodium (2/3 teaspoon!) for high risk adults.

Q. How much sodium is in an egg roll and one packet of duck sauce?

   A. 300mg

   B. 400mg

   C. 500mg                                                

If you guessed C, you are correct. That translates into approximately 22% of your daily sodium intake (based on 2,300 mg).      

Let’s be honest, the egg roll is just the beginning. Next comes the main dish, which can range anywhere from 700-3000+mg of sodium. 

Ok, I’m off my soapbox, on with the meal...

“F” served me the Ocean Taste − steamed shrimp and scallops with broccoli in a dark garlic sauce and a side of steamed brown rice (Ho Wah finally added steamed brown rice to their menu). I will start with the good news; I liked the steamed broccoli and brown rice. Now the bad news, there was too much sauce, which overpowered the seafood and veggies. And, even though this dish is relatively lower in fat and calories than other battered or deep-fried seafood dishes, the sodium content (~2,000-3,000mg sodium) is very high. This applies to most Chinese restaurants and not only to Ho Wah.

Here are a few tips on how to make this dish (or other dishes) healthier, yet delicious:

• Order steamed shrimp and scallops.
• Order extra broccoli.
• Ask for the sauce of the side.
• Share! Most Chinese dishes are meant to be shared.

Trust me, this will not take away from how your meal tastes. Even if you don’t order steamed seafood, at least order the sauce on the side. You will be surprised that having control over how much sauce you put on your dish helps reduce the amount of sauce you actually consume.

Each year, nearly 400,000 deaths are attributed to high blood pressure, isn’t ordering sauce on the side is worth it?

Note: Try eating with chopsticks. This will keep you on the “Healthy & Delicious” track by slowing down the pace in which you eat your food.

Happy Hanukkah, merry Christmas, and happy holidays!