What’s in a Salad?

It began at 11:30 a.m. at the Cheesecake Factory in Brentwood. The take-out order for one entree-size Chinese chicken salad, price $8.95, was ready to pick up.

This salad’s destination: Michelson Laboratories Inc., in Commerce. Purpose of the journey: to determine the fat and calorie counts of this and six other versions of Chinese chicken salad, one of Los Angeles’ most popular entree salads.

The basic formula--sliced chicken breast, rice noodles, lettuce, green onions, strips of fried won ton--has many variations. Some versions may include carrots, red cabbage, cilantro, fried noodles, almonds and/or sesame seeds. It’s served with any of three basic dressings: a ginger-spiked sweet-sour vinaigrette, a honey-thick rust-colored sweet dressing and a creamy dressing with a mustard tang.

Who created it? Many foodies credit Madame Wong, a Shanghai-born cooking teacher, now retired, who taught here in the ‘70s and ‘80s through UCLA Extension. Her recipe for Chicken Salad with Rice Sticks, which appeared in “Madame Wong’s Long-Life Chinese Cookbook” by Sylvia Schulman (Contemporary Books, 1977), has certainly been influential. It was popularized by a former student of hers, Bob Mandler, owner of the Chin Chin restaurants.

However, Chinese chicken salad was around in California before that. Philip Chang remembers it being served at his family’s Beverly Hills restaurant, The Mandarin, since its opening in the early ‘60s.

In “Fashionable Foods: Seven Decades of Food Fads” (MacMillan, 1995), Sylvia Lovgren agrees that it was probably invented in California. The closest she sees in China is a Sichuanese cold chicken dish with a peanut butter dressing.

The earliest recipe we’ve found--a very elaborate version, including just about anything you can find in Chinese chicken salad today--was the sow see gai which appeared in “Serve It Cold! A Cookbook of Delicious Cold Dishes” (Doubleday, 1968) by June Crosby and Ruth Conrad Bateman.

In our survey, we found that diners pay anything from $3 to $9 for this pile of crunch. Portions range from 9 ounces to a whopping 23 ounces.

For the die-hards who order Chinese chicken salad for health reasons, the news from our tests was neither joyous nor quite depressing.

Let the diner beware: Those he-man portions (which many restaurants intend to be split by two diners) are high in calories and fat. If you’re concerned about keeping both at bay, ask about the ingredients first.

But there are ways to have your salad at your favorite restaurant and reduce some of the fat. Order the dressing on the side (or see whether there’s an oil-free style). Skip the fried won tons. Or split the salad. Most dietitians advise that moderation, variety and balance are the keys to eating a healthy diet. An occasional high-fat anything isn’t going to hurt you--as long as it’s only occasional.

The salads we sent to the lab were purchased from the Plum Tree and New Moon restaurants in downtown Los Angeles and from various locations of Cheesecake Factory, Chin Chin, Koo Koo Roo, McDonald’s and California Pizza Kitchen. Calories and fat were calculated in two ways: on the portion the restaurant serves and (for comparison, because those portions vary) on a 100-gram serving, about 2/3 cup.

When dietitian Jean Eis, director of St. John’s Hospital Weight Control program in Santa Monica, looked at the lab results, she gave high marks to Koo Koo Roo’s salad. A 100-gram serving provides 82 calories, 3.5% fat. She also praised Chin Chin, which offers low-fat or oil-free dressings.

But let’s face it. No one eats Chinese chicken salad strictly for fuel or fiber; it’s got to taste good. So we had a blind taste testing.

The tasters liked Chin Chin’s salad best overall. In terms of fat and calories (per 100 grams), it’s in the middle of the pack at 145 calories with 7.6% fat. It was also in the middle in terms of price: $6.95 for a 19.2-ounce serving. New Moon scored second-best in taste but highest in percentage of fat per 100 grams and calories per 100 grams. The solution for some tasters partial to New Moon’s salad: Order the dressing on the side and share the salad with a friend.

REDUCED-FAT COOKING MADAME WONG’S NEW CHICKEN SALAD

This is the updated version of Madame Wong’s chicken salad, which we first published in July 1996. In this recipe, the chicken is skinned and the meat is wrapped in foil before roasting to keep it moist. Jicama, substituted for nuts and rice sticks, contributes texture and crunch. Oil is omitted from the dressing. For a stronger flavor, a minimal amount of oil may be used in the sauce.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup red wine or rice vinegar

2 green onions, chopped fine

1 teaspoon chile oil, optional

1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded and chilled

1 cup shredded jicama, chilled

1/2 cup bean sprouts, root ends snapped off, chilled

1/2 cup shredded carrots, chilled

1/4 cup preserved red ginger, chopped

Rub chicken with 2 tablespoons soy sauce; marinate 30 minutes.

Place chicken in foil and seal tightly. Roast in shallow pan at 350 degrees 30 minutes.

Cool chicken and shred meat by hand; do not cut.

Combine salt, sugar, vinegar and remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce in mixing bowl. Mix well. Add green onions and chile oil if using. Add lettuce, jicama and chicken. Toss to mix well.

Arrange salad on serving plates. Place bean sprouts and carrots on top. Garnish with preserved ginger. Serve at once.

4 servings. Each serving:

175 calories; 917 mg sodium; 29 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams protein; 1.30 grams fiber.

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Trial by Fire

The Chinese chicken salad tests were coordinated at Michelson Laboratories, Inc., in Commerce by Don Olbrantz, technical director of the food laboratory, which is recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The salads’ journey was not a pretty sight. For testing purposes, each was pulverized in a food processor into something that looked like guacamole and tasted like over-salted pea soup.

Each salad was analyzed, with dressing, for calories, fat, protein and cholesterol. The samples were weighed, baked, mixed with acid, extracted, heated to 600 degrees centigrade in an oven that looked like a microwave, then cooled. One sample looked like a walnut-sized clot of dried seaweed. Another, a white powder. (Incidentally, Olbrantz says that seeing this done to food, as his job requires him to do every day, doesn’t dull his appetite.)

The Results

California Pizza Kitchen: Locations throughout Southern California; call (800) 91-WECARE for locations.

Total portion size: 9.7 ounces

Total calories: 619

Total cholesterol: 42.5 mg

Total fat: 41.54 grams

Calories per 100 grams: 226

Percentage of fat per 100 grams: 15.16

Cholesterol per 100 grams: 15.5 mg

Sodium per 100 grams: 354 mg

Cost: $8.95

*

Cheesecake Factory: Locations in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Marina del Rey, Redondo Beach, Woodland Hills, Newport Beach and Pasadena.

Total portion size: 22.1 ounces

Total calories: 1,014

Total cholesterol: 115 mg

Total fat: 60.72 grams

Calories per 100 grams: 162

Percentage of fat per 100 grams: 9.7

Cholesterol per 100 grams: 18.4 mg

Sodium per 100 grams: 253 mg

Cost: $8.95

*

Chin Chin: Locations in West Hollywood, Brentwood, Studio City, Marina del Rey, Encino.

Total portion size: 19.2 ounces

Total calories: 787

Total cholesterol: 66.8 mg

Total fat: 41.27 grams

Calories per 100 grams: 145

Percentage of fat per 100 grams: 7.6

Cholesterol per 100 grams: 12.3 mg

Sodium per 100 grams: 196 mg

Cost: $6.95

*

Koo Koo Roo: Locations throughout Southern California.

Total portion size: 16.2 ounces

Total calories: 377

Total cholesterol: 37.3 mg

Total fat: 16.23 grams

Calories per 100 grams: 82 calories

Percentage of fat per 100 grams: 3.53

Cholesterol per 100 grams: 8.1 mg

Sodium per 100 grams: 112 mg

Cost: $7.99

*

New Moon: 102 W. 9th St., downtown Los Angeles; (213) 624-0186.

Total portion size: 11.5 ounces

Total calories: 900 calories

Total cholesterol: 127 mg

Total fat: 63.86 grams

Calories per 100 grams: 276

Percentage of fat per 100 grams: 19.59%

Cholesterol per 100 grams: 38.9 mg

Sodium per 100 grams: 113 mg

Cost: $7.50

*

Plum Tree Inn: 937 Hill St., Chinatown, (213) 613-1819; 20461 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, (818) 888-6001; 12400 Wilshire Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 826-8008.

Total portion size: 23.6 ounces

Total calories: 1,371 calories

Total cholesterol: 155 mg

Total fat: 44.56 grams

Calories per 100 grams: 205 calories

Percentage of fat per 100 grams: 6.66

Cholesterol per 100 grams: 23.2 mg

Sodium per 100 grams: 105 mg

Cost: $5.25