It’s pretty standard to order from a Chinese menu, especially if it’s a Friday night with your friends, making it likely that you’ve encountered chow mein and lo mein noodles.
They may appear to share similarities, but these sections could be perceived with a few differences, particularly in their health values, only discernible by comparing chow mein and lo mein in a close angle. These include their origin, texture, preparations, flavors, and of course, providing nutrition.
What are these dishes?
Chow mein is a term that could be translated as “fried noodles” within the Chinese language and is made from 5-6 minutes par-boiled noodles, which are then stir-fried on a wok, leading them to become slightly firm or crispy in texture.
Followed by adding the vegetables and meat to blend the spices before including a soy sauce for an extra flavor.
Generally, suppose you’re fond of crunchier noodles. In that case, it’s recommended to stir-fry the ingredients separately to prevent the noodles from absorbing the liquids both from the meat and vegetables that’ll give them a softer texture.
On the other hand, Lo mein is known as the “tossed noodles” among Chinese people. It’s prepared by par-boiling the fresh noodles within 2-3 minutes, then mixed with juicy meat and vegetables before topping it using a thick sauce to accompany the tasty meal with a delicious aroma.
Next, it would be tossed to ensure that the noodles are completely covered with the flavors and served on a plate.
Which one is healthier?
The simple answer is chow mein, which we could break down using a 100g portion of an average restaurant’s chicken chow mein serving.
Typically, this dish contains 85 calories with 2.8g of fat, of which 0.5g is saturated. Now, a vegetable chow mein that’s 43 calories and roughly 1.7g of fat, wherein around 0.3g are saturated.
By looking at them closely, you’d notice that both chow mein variations are excellent calorie-wise compared to a 100g portion of vegetable lo mein. The serving would’ve contained 121 calories and had 2.4g of fat, where 0.5 of it is saturated.
Since saturated fat increases your risk of being subjected to stroke, high diseases, or a record of high cholesterol, it’ll be wise to stick to avoiding meals that have high contents of this value.
Other nutritional values
If you’re wondering how you could get the best of both ends, the dishes are known to provide sufficient protein nutrients to individuals just by ordering a similar portion.
In fact, a chicken chow mein could offer you an estimate of 6.8g of protein in each order, which is 15% of a woman’s protein requirement and is about 12% of the overall protein needs of men. At the same time, a vegetable chow mein has 1.4g of protein in each order.
Likewise, a vegetable lo mein is known to have 4.8g of protein despite the lack of meat in its ingredients.
Beyond that, chicken chow mein supplies the body with at least 1g of fiber, yet a vegetable option could deliver you no less than 1.2g of fiber. On the contrary, a vegetable lo mein distributes 1.3g of fiber, contributing to 25% of daily fiber needs among women and equating to 3% of daily fiber requirements for men.
As a result, people enjoy the benefits of having a healthier digestive system and lifts the burden of constipation, thanks to the nutrition by the fiber. Additionally, it fights cholesterol from weakening your heart.
What’s more, you could also gain iron, a dose of niacin, potassium, and generous amounts of vitamins A, C, and K.
Final thoughts
Fortunately, healthy living doesn’t have to be so strict that you’d end up resenting the idea of eating a well-balanced diet.
This is because you’re still capable of savoring an occasional show-stopper meal while reaping its nutritional values so long as the discipline to the body is prioritized.
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