Cooking or ordering food is a vital part of daily life. We depend on it for survival, growth, and health. However, turning it into a pleasurable experience needs knowledge, arts, and expertise.
Taking up a Culinary Art course is one of the best solutions. If you learn it right, it will be a potential source for building a fortune. People across the globe live by consuming foods and drinks. They are willing to pay for the best and most delightful dishes. A pretty sign to choose a cooking career. As a matter of fact, Chinese cuisines are popular worldwide. If you got a plan to hold outdoor activities, taking bites of them with a special tea is a good, fun mix, even during conversation.
The food in Chinese, including its style and preparation, mostly depends on the class and ethnic background. However, some Chinese cuisines were affected by external cultures and history. Cantonese from Guangdong has grown popular throughout the world because of its emigrants who moved to the U.S. and Europe in the 1800s. But most Chinese cuisines are developed by the influence of cooking styles in various regions of China.
Eventually, it gave birth to unique culinary traditions which were adopted by different countries. So, any Chinese food that is popular has cultural and historical value.
List of Foods in Chinese
You may have different food preferences, but their popular dishes have yet to catch the eyes of many. Below are the foods they use in making delicacies written in English, Chinese characters, and Pinyin pronunciation.
Meat 肉 (ròu)
If you go to a Chinese restaurant with the mindset of Western culture, you might be hesitant to eat their recipes with meat. They are known to cook the meat of animals such as dogs, snakes, cats, horses, and among others. However, they also use meats like fish, pork, chicken, beef, etc., as follows:
- beef 牛肉 (niúròu)
- pork 猪肉 (zhūròu)
- Chicken 鸡 (jī)
- Duck 鸭肉 (yā ròu)
- Lamb 羔羊 (gāo yáng)
- Fish 鱼 (yú)
- Crab 螃蟹 (páng xiè)
- Shrimp 虾 (xiā)
- Clam 蛤 (há)
- Lobster 龙虾 (lóng xiā)
- Oyster牡蛎 (mǔ lì).
- Squid 乌贼 (wū zéi)
- Octopus 章鱼 (zhāng yú)
- Scallop 扇贝 (shàn bèi)
Fruits 水果(Shuǐ guǒ)
Eating exotic fruits when travelling to China adds up to the exciting journey. When you find them, you will really make order a bunch of them. In fact, Western foreigners are into them.
- Durian 榴莲 (liúlián)
- DragonFruit 火龙果 (huǒlóngguǒ)
- Rambutans 红毛丹 (hóngmáodān)
- Bayberry 杨梅 (yángméi)
- Mangosteens 山竹 (shānzhú)
- Persimmons (柿子 shìzi)
- Lychee 荔枝 (lìzhi)
- Pomelos 柚子 (yòuzi)
- Goji Berries 枸杞子 (gǒuqǐzǐ)
- Jujube (红枣 hóngzǎo)
Vegetables 蔬菜 (shū cài)
Chinese cuisines often have a combination of vegetables to add up flavours and health benefits. And adding soy sauce or oyster sauce to them brings the quality to a higher level.
- Bean Sprout 豆芽 (Dòuyá)
- Spinach 菠 (Bōcài)
- Cabbage 白菜 (Báicài)
- Scallion 香葱 (Cōng)
- Bamboo Shoot 笋 (Sǔn)
- Mushroom 蘑菇 (Mógu:)
- Tomato 番茄 (Fānqié)
- Corn 玉米 (Yùmǐ)
- Potato 土豆 (Tǔdòu)
- Eggplant (茄子 qiézi)
Drinks 饮料 (yǐn liào)
- Milk 牛奶 niúnǎi
- Coke 可乐 kělè
- juice 果汁 guǒzhī
- Beer 啤酒 (pí jiǔ)
- Coffee 咖啡(kā fēi)
- Tea 茶 (chá)
- Water 水 (shuǐ)
- Fruit Juice
Sweets 糖果 (Tángguǒ)
- Apple pie 苹果派 (pínɡ ɡuǒ pài)
- Cake 蛋糕 (dàn ɡāo)
- Candy 糖果 (tánɡ ɡuǒ)
- Cheesecake 干酪蛋糕 (ɡān lào dàn ɡāo)
- Cookies 饼干 (bǐnɡ ɡān)
- Custard 奶油蛋羹 (nǎi yóu dàn ɡēnɡ)
- Donut 油炸圈饼 (yóu zhà quān bǐnɡ)
- Fruit salad 水果色拉 (shuí ɡuǒ sè lā)
- Ice cream 冰淇淋 (bīnɡ qí lín)
- Jello 果冻 (ɡuǒ dònɡ)
- Meringue 甜饼 (tián bǐnɡ)
- Muffin 松糕 (sōnɡ ɡāo)
Chinese Traditional foods
Chinese have a number of delicious and tasty cuisines. If you go to their restaurants to buy the cooked foods and eat (chī fàn) with tea as a paired drink, you’ll enjoy the taste and flavour of their served delicacies. Say, for breakfast, the fried rice with the smell of garlic, dumplings, and others is sufficient to fill your hunger. Indeed, it is a desirable place to bring your friends and loved ones to eat and drink together.
Shanghai and Beijing are the most common cities where you can enjoy Chinese delectable dishes. You can easily search for the location of the restaurants based on your taste. You either look for the written sign anywhere or ask people around the place to buy food.
- Congee 粥 (báizhōu)
- Chinese Hamburger 肉夹馍(ròu Jiā Mó)
- Scallion Pancakes 葱油饼 (cōng Yóu Bǐng)
- Kung Pao Chicken 宫保鸡丁 (gong Bao Ji Ding)
- Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐 (mápó Dòufu)
- Wonton Soup 云吞 (hundun Tang)
- Soup Dumplings 小籠包 (xiao Long Bao)
- Hot Pot 火鍋 (huǒguō)
- Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐(chòudòufu)
- Sichuan hot pot 成都火鍋 (chéngdū huǒguō)
Conclusion
Language could be a barrier to learning the cooking styles and techniques of Chinese people. But you can check web pages that give translations for their food and drink sets. Most of them have corresponding English or Pinyin words. If there’s an instance of a slang word, the Internet is the nearest tool to find what it means to say.
Understanding the Mandarin Chinese language is ideal but you can alternatively search cuisines in Singapore and Indonesia such as their web pages. Or, watch video cooking presentations. Ingredients are easy to identify and write down in your notes. For example, spices such as ginger, garlic, onions, and others.
Besides, you’ll do your best to learn if you love to cook delicious dishes, whether written in Pinyin or other languages. Just accept the fact that Chinese cuisines are undoubtedly superb in styles, flavours, and techniques. Take it easy, like having a tea party!
