The Year of the Dragon is approaching happy Spring festival!
! As one of the oldest cuisines in history, Chinese food is deep-rooted in symbolic traditions. Long noodles represent a long life, for example, while dumplings shaped like gold nuggets stand for prosperity and fortune. Before you head over to your favorite Chinese restaurant to celebrate with American-Chinese dishes like Moo Goo Gai Pan or General Tsos Chicken (tasty as they are), try your hand at these Chinese food and drink phrases. Expand your culinary range, and ask your server whats good to eat you just may be surprised. For those looking to travel to the Middle Kingdom, this list should be particularly useful. The variations in every region are mindblowing, and should definitely be sampled. Keep this list handy as you travel along and you should have no problem ordering a fresh soymilk to wash down your mouth-numbingly spicy food, should the craving strike. *A note on pronunciation: Mandarin Chinese uses four tones. A shift in tone can change a words meaning entirely, but a system called pinyin transcribes characters into the Roman alphabet to help English-speakers pronounce the word they mean (lest you order something very strange). Happy New Year Xnnin Kuil! Drinking Alcoholic
Pji: Beer Biji: Literally means white liquor Shoxngji: Shaoxing fermented rice wine Hng ptoji: Red wine Bi ptoji: White wine Gnbi: Cheers!
Non-alcoholic
Guzh: Fruit juice Y png shu: One bottle of water Bng shu: Ice water (not really something you should order in China) Kkukl or Kl: Coca-Cola Xub: Sprite Kfi: Coffee
Dujing: Fresh soymilk Nini: Literally cows milk
Tea (of course)
Hngch: Black tea Lch: Green tea Mlhuch: Jasmine tea Wlngch: Oolong tea Jhu ch: Chrysanthemum tea Nich: Milk tea/bubble tea
Food For the carnivore
Ru: Meat J ru: Chicken Niru: Beef Zh ru: Pork Yng ru: Mutton
From the sea
Hixin: Seafood Y: Fish Xi: Shrimp Xi: Crab Lngxi: Lobster
Vegetables
Dufu: Tofu Duy: Bean sprout Bci: Spinach Bici: Cabbage Cng: Scallion/Onion Sn: Bamboo shoot Mgu: Mushroom Xhngsh/ Fn qi: Tomato Ym: Corn Tdu: Potato Qizi: Eggplant
Menu Mainstays
Mfn: White rice Cho fn: Fried rice Jiozi: Dumplings Hntn: Wonton Tng: Soup Bozi: Stuffed steamed bun Mntou: Plain steamed bun Chomin: Fried noodles Tngmin: Noodle soup Zhu: Congee/Porridge Yutio: Cruller (to accompany Zhu) Jdn: Egg Chy dn: Tea-soaked egg Pdn: Century-old egg (preserved duck egg)
Good Regional Dishes to Know
Schun Hugu: Sichuan hot pot Chsho: Cantonese barbeque pork Bijng koy: Beijing roast duck Lnzhu lmin: Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles Xiolng bo: Shanghai small steamed buns Yngru chuan: Chinese Muslim barbeque mutton skewers Dng p zh ru: Hangzhou braised pork belly Hz jin: Fujian oyster omelet Chngsh chu dufu: Changsha-style stinky tofu
Flavor
L: Spicy M l: Numbing spicy Sun: Sour Xin: Salty Tin: Sweet K: Bitter Xin: Similar to umami Chu: Smelly or pungent Wido: Taste/smell
Spices/Seasoning
Jingyu: Soy sauce C: Vinegar Dsun: Garlic Jing: Ginger Zhma: Sesame Ljio: Hot pepper Hujio: Sichuan peppercorn (literally flower pepper)
Good To Know
Ch fn: To eat (literally eat rice) Zocn: Breakfast Wcn/Wfn: Lunch Wncn/Wnfn: Dinner Dinxn: Dessert Cngun: Restaurant G rn: (Number) of people Fwyun: Waiter/waitress Do NOT call your waitress Xioji. While it typically means Miss, in the service industry it is slang for prostitute. Kuizi: Chopsticks Ch: Fork W ch s: I am vegetarian. W yo zhge: I would like this one. Yu shnme ho ch de: Whats good to eat? Zh sh shnme: What is this? Cidn: Menu Din ci: To order Dusho qin: How much (does it cost)? Hn ho ch: Delicious Zhn bng: Awesome
