Food Chinese food makes me sick. A way around it?

Adore

"BLONDIE"
Sep 17, 2006
1,695
1
Chinese food has always been my absolute favorite my whole life. Then I don't know what happened, within the past year I've started getting sick from it, in the bathroom the entire morning of the following day.

I am pretty sure even a small bowl of rice the last time we had Chinese in the house even did this to me.

I can't even go to my favorite restaurant anymore now, but I figured it must be MSG? I mean is it in absolutely -everything- or is there a certain dish that is at most Chinese restaurants that don't have it?

I just figured I'd ask and maybe somebody knows a solution other than not going anymore!
 
If I eat "cheap" chinesse food like pand express I always get the runs... lol.. always.. but if I eat at a "real' chinesse restaurant everything is fine. KWIM?? I was friends with the GM at the Panda Express next to work and he've told me you can't reheat the food, better never ener save leftovers for later or I can get very sick. This is true
 
If I eat "cheap" chinesse food like pand express I always get the runs... lol.. always.. but if I eat at a "real' chinesse restaurant everything is fine. KWIM?? I was friends with the GM at the Panda Express next to work and he've told me you can't reheat the food, better never ener save leftovers for later or I can get very sick. This is true


I agree! There's just nothing like an authentic Chinese Restaurant. I can't even bring myself to like Asian fusion cooking like PF Changs. Not to insult anyone who likes the joint but what they serve is not Chinese food.
 
I have yet to go to a Chinese restaurant in Charlotte, NC that didn't kill my stomach. I've pretty much give up on the food, lol. Wait I take that back, there is one place in Charlotte, but the restaurant it is served in is in a bad part of Charlotte and difficult to get to, so we rarely go. Outside of that, it all hurts my belly :sad:
 
You might have developed an allergy. Allergies can come or go at any time of life.

Oyster sauce is used in several popular dishes. I suddenly developed a severe allergy to all shellfish around age 30. In my 20s, I lost my allergy to cats. :shrugs:

Or perhaps you have become allergic to soy. Soy sauce seems to be in everything.

You could go to an allergy doctor and get tested. They can take a little blood and test for lots of things. Much less painful than the old scratch tests sometimes done - the ones where they dot your arm or back with allergens and watch to see if your body goes nuts.

Good luck!
 
Once an allergy is ruled out, what you might try is forget about restaurants and mount a campaign to get yourself invited to dinner at peoples' homes.

There is a very very wide gap between a lot of foods, not just Chinese, but South Asian, Southeast Asian, Meso-American, Middle Eastern - even Italian! food that is served in homes and what is served in restaurants, where, for business reasons, the food is intentionally adjusted to appeal to a wide range of palates, especially the American mainstream palate, which at the risk of offending anyone with a generalization, has certain tendencies that have the unfortunate result that many people who would sincerely like to try and learn about all these different cuisines miss out on a large chunk of the flavor and goodness and what makes each one special.

I know a lot of you will understand me completely, and a lot of you will have no idea what in the world I am talking about, and some of you may get mad, but don't get mad - get yourself invited to dinner! That will explain it all better than I ever could!
 
Maybe you just figured out you're allergic to peanuts? Lots of stuff is cooked in peanut oil.



On another note, "New Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits, Chinese food makes me sick. And I think it's fly when girls stop by for the summer, for the summer . . . . "

(Sorry, I had an LFO moment. You thread title reminded me of that song . . . and I hate that song.)
 
You could try asking for the second menu/traditional menu in Chinese restaurants that are more on the traditional side. I've been to two restaurants that give you the sesame-chicken-lo-mein menus, but have a second authentic Chinese menu with the more interesting selections for their Chinese patrons. You just have to ask; sometimes they won't give it to you (I've heard of a few friends of mine that ended up with waiters that refused to give them the menu), but most of the time they will give it to you. I think the food is better off this second menu than what you get as Americanized Chinese food.
 
Try making some rice at home to see if you get sick from it. I don't think they put MSG in the rice.

A "good" Chinese restuarant is one where you see lots of Chinese people in there. Also most of the "good" ones have their menus in Chinese on slips of paper on the wall.
 
You could try asking for the second menu/traditional menu in Chinese restaurants...
South/Southeast Asian, Ethiopian, Korean, even "Latin Amercian" etc restaurants have this, sometimes it is not even written down!

But when it is, it is not likely to have an English translation, so depending on what languages you read/speak etc you might want to make sure your dining party includes someone who can help those who need it to make their selections from the "second" menu!
 
If I eat "cheap" chinesse food like pand express I always get the runs... lol.. always.. but if I eat at a "real' chinesse restaurant everything is fine. KWIM?? I was friends with the GM at the Panda Express next to work and he've told me you can't reheat the food, better never ener save leftovers for later or I can get very sick. This is true

I agree. There are some 'dives' that are great and authentic too though. But gotta make sure they are authentic. I know that a lot of the "Chinese" food places for example at the food court at the mall are all own by non-Chinese people. They put a lot of grease and MSG in their food. There are Chinese restaurants that serve no-msg food. There are quite a few places here. But usually we eat at the higher-end ones because you can feel and taste the difference. But I suppose the whole stigma of yummy Chinese takeout is where a lot of people eat at.
 
I always request no MSG, I hope you figure out what it is. Maybe try going to another restaurant? perhaps they have started using something different in the kitchen or something like that?