The thought is the simple carbs from rice, noodles, and high sugar sauces in a lot of takeout-style Chinese food gets digested quickly, so while one can eat that until they feel stuffed, the body will quickly break it down, and with the volume of fiber and protein in the meal being relatively low to the volume of starches and sugars, your stomach will soon be wanting more due to the low satiety provided. One could eat a smaller amount of, say, steak and broccoli, and remain fuller for much longer, due to the better nutritional balance and higher protein and fiber content which takes the body much longer to digest than starches and sugars.

It is played as a joke since a large number of people experience this overeating, yet soon hungry again situation, and attribute it to the food, although probably not in a way of understanding they're eating a different kind of junk food than what they're used to. My understanding is all this stuff is westernized and not really reflective of what Chinese food actually is.

This is also why people talk about Asians getting a "secret menu" at Asian restaurants. It's not as though Westerners are forbidden to order real Asian dishes, they're just a completely different taste profile than what a lot of Westerners are accustomed to, whether dishes be too spicy, too salty, or not sweet/saucy/cheesey/etc enough. One time I went fishing in the ocean and got way too many fish. I offered them to the guys in the Chinese takeout place attached to where I was working. They offered me some of what they made for themselves with it but gave me a heads up that I may not exactly enjoy it. I took a bite and it tasted sooooo salty, and I got surprised it still had the soft fish bones in it, and it wasn't bad but was not what my palette was ready for at the time and I could not finish it, meanwhile they were all grateful and fully enjoying it.

Have you eaten Americanized "Chinese" food? I eat it every on every last Tuesday of the month. I order two meals for myself every time, because without fail, I will be hungry again within less than 2 hours. Yesterday (4/28/2026), I had a pint of General Tso's Chicken with a pint of beef lo mein. That's an entire quart of food. If I ate a quart of spag bol for my lunch, I'd be done for the night. I'd be asleep. But after my big ol' "Chinese" lunch, I was hungry ~90 minutes later, so I ate my pint of Szechuan Chicken and my pint of pork fried rice. Wonton soup was also involved. Yes, I added the fried noodles.

And even after that, I got a large pizza (pepperoni, pineapple, and extra cheese) at 10:30pm, just to cover the late night munchies. I only ate 4 slices out of 8, so I had some left for breakfast today. The stuff we sell as "Chinese food" in the USA is not very filling.

YMMV, I am a large man, and I am very active. I'm 6'4", I lift weights, and I run 6 miles a day. My TDEE is ~3800 calories. If you're one of those folks who only need 1200-1600 calories a day, a simple lunch from the "Chinese" spot would be a lot of food for you. My wife is small, and she can easily live off 1600-1800 calories a day. Our gf is tiny and lives off of 1200 calories a day most days. A "splurge" day for her is 1500-1600 calories.