Ordering in Chinese
Basic Vocabulary for Chinese Restaurants in Beijing
Why don't they have the "Chinese" food we know? Wouldn't it be nice to know what to order when on holiday in China. A very basic guide to ordering in Chinese.
Before walking into a Chinese restaurant (that doesn’t speak English) it’s good to have the basics of what to order. Of course if one could speak fluent Chinese, that would be most ideal. But for those who don’t, here are some basics that one could get by and manage to order a simple meal.
Before getting to the actual dishes. Some basic vocabulary is needed.
Meats:
Chicken meat: ?? Ji rou = pronounced “gee row”
Beef:?? Niu rou = prounounced “new row”
Pork: ?? Zhu rou = “Ju row”
Lamb: ?? Yang rou = “Yang row”
Familiar Vegetables:
Broccoli: ??? Xi lan hua = pronounced “See lan hwa”
Chinese broccoli: ?? Jie lan = pronounced “Jie lan”
Cabbage (in the north): ?? Bai Cai = prounounced “bye cye” (cye rhyming with bye, and the “c” being a sound between “c” and “s.” Kind of like “chai” minus the “h”)
Onion: ??? “Da yang cong” = pronounced “dah yang chong” “o” with a long “o”
Drinks:
Coke: ?? “Ke le” = Keh leh
Coffee: ??“Ka fei” = Kah fe” (the “e” in “fe” pronounced as in edible)
Tea: ? “Cha” = pronounced “cha”
Mineral water: ??? “Kuang quan shui” pronounced “koo-ang chuen shway”
Dishes found in almost every restaurant in Beijing:
???? Gong Bao Ji Ding = pronounced “gong bao gee ding” consists of chicken, leeks, peanuts, cucumbers, and some spicy peppers. It is usually not very spicy but asian standards, and would be considered mildly spicy by western standards.
???? Yu Xiang Rou Si = pronounced “you siang row si” consists of pork, eggplant, and a delicious salty sauce.
???? Zi Ran Yang Rou = pronounced “Zi ran yang row” consists of lamb sitr-fried with cumin
???? Yang cong yang rou = pronounced “yang chong yang row” lamb stir-fried with onions.
?????Xiang la tu dou si = pronounced “siang lah to doh si” is something like french fries, but the potatoes are shredded thinly and the dish is slightly spicy.
??? Pai Huang Gua = pronounced “Pai hwang guah” literally meaning “smashed cucumber”, it is served with lots of garlic, plus vinegar and oil.
???? Shui Guo Sha La = pronounced “Shway guo sha lah”, it is a fresh fruit salad served with sweet mayonaise and is surprisingly very good.
Other Essentials:
Not too Spicy: ??? bu tai la = pronounced “boo thai lah”
Not spicy: ?? bu la = pronounced “boo lah”
is this dish vegetarian or not ????? “shi su de ma?” = pronounced “shi sue duh ma?”
rice: ?? mi fan = pronounced "me fan"
yes: ? dui = pronounced “doi”
no: ? bu = pronounced “boo”
If it works, great! If it doesn’t, well there’ll be a few laughs and the waitresses will appreciate it. A dictionary can always help!
