干货 | 如何教老外认菜单！

中国的很多菜名往往包含着丰富的历史文化信息。如“东坡肉”，传说是人们为了纪念北宋大文学家苏轼而以他的字“东坡”命名的一道菜。相比之下，西餐中的菜名要简单的多，往往一目了然。以风靡全球的“肯德基”（Kentucky Fried Chicken）为例，光看店名就知道这是一家炸鸡店，而店中的食品如炸鸡腿，香辣鸡翅，炸薯条，汉堡包等几乎无一不是以原料、烹饪方法来命名的。

常见中国菜单英译的方法：　　

（1）直接列出原料（主料为主，配料为辅，常见于冷菜）　　

e.g 白领鼓扣鸭掌 mushrooms with duck webs　　

姜汁皮蛋 preserved eggs in ginger sauce　

（2）烹饪方法/刀法+中心词（常见于热菜）　　

e.g 鲍鱼红烧肉 braised pork with abalone　　

木耳肉片 sautéed sliced pork with black fungus

（3）以人名，地名为主，原料为辅的翻译原则　　

以人名为主　　

e.g 麻婆豆腐 Mapo to fu　　

东坡肉 Dongpo pork　　

以菜肴的发源地为主　　

e.g北京炸酱面 noodles with soy， bean paste， BEijing style　　川味小炒Shredded pork with vegetables， Sichuan style

（4）使用汉语拼音命名或在其后加注释　　

直接用汉语拼音命名　　

e.g 烧卖 shaomai 饺子 jiaozi　　

使用汉语拼音并在后加英文注释　　

e.g 锅贴 guotie 

元宵yuanxiao （glutinous rice balls for lanter Festivals）

（5）舍去原菜名中的比喻形象，意译出原意　　

e.g 夫妻肺片 pork lung in chili sauce　　

蚂蚁上树sautéed vermicelli with spicy minced pork

肉 (ròu, meat)

羊肉 yángròu – mutton
牛肉 niúròu – beef
鸡肉 jīròu – chicken
猪肉 zhūròu – pork
鱼 yú – fish

Notes:
1. In most restaurants, 肉 by itself on a menu means pork but in Muslim restaurants肉 by itself usually means mutton.
2. If the thought of accidentally ordering offal fills you with dread, avoid menu items with characters that include the 月 radical. Most characters for offal include 月, including 肝 (gān, liver), 肠 (cháng, intestines) and 肺 (fèi, lungs).
3. Remembering mutton, beef and chicken is easy. 羊 has horns, 牛 has an ear tag, and 鸡 has an eye, a beak, and a crest.

菜 (cài, vegetables)
土豆 tǔdòu – potato
茄子 qiézi – eggplant
菇 gū – mushrooms
豆 dòu – beans and peas
葱 cōng – vegetables from the onion family

Note: On menus, the character 菜 usually refers to any kind of green vegetable. If you’re looking for greens, choose menu items that include the character 菜.

Other items 
鸡蛋 jīdàn – eggs
豆腐 dòufu – tofu
面 miàn – noodles made of wheat
粉 fěn – noodles made of any other starch, including rice, sweet potato, or mung beans

Cooking methods 
炒 chǎo – wok-fried or stir-fried
烧 shāo – braised
凉拌 liángbàn – prepared raw like a salad
干锅 gānguō – served sizzling in a small wok
丝 sī – shredded
辣 là – made spicy with the addition chili oil, chili paste, or dried or fresh chili

Note: On menus, characters with the 火 radical, like 炒 and 烧 usually refer to a cooking method.

The characters above are enough to get you in the door and ordering off a Chinese menu. Either memorize them – five a day for a week will get you most of the way there – or save this page as a cheat sheet. Once you’ve mastered the basics, the bonus section below will have you ordering like a pro.

Bonus
Below are our top 10 foreigner favorite menu items to look out for. If you are a laowai you probably like these dishes:

Kungpao Chicken (宫保鸡丁 gōngbǎojīding)
A dish of cubed chicken cooked with chili, Sichuan peppercorns, peanuts, and leeks (some lesser restaurants use cucumber). Named for Qing Dynasty 宫保 (palace guardian) and governor of Sichuan, Ding Baozhen 丁宝桢 (the 丁 is coincidental).

Shredded Pork with the Fragrance of Fish (鱼香肉丝 yúxiāngròusī)
The fragrance of fish is debatable, but the tastiness of shredded pork fried with wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots, and ginger is not.

Dry-fried Green Beans (干煸豆角 gānbiāndòujiǎo, a.k.a. 干煸四季豆 gānbiānsìjìdòu)
Often referred to as "the crack beans" by those unfamiliar with its Chinese names, this dish of green beans fried sometimes with minced pork but always with chili, salt, and MSG can be addictive.

Brocoli fried with Minced Garlic (蒜蓉西兰花 suànróngxīlánhuā) 
The Chinese dish most likely to make laowai say “If my mom made vegetables like this I would have eaten them.”

Pockmarked Grandmother’s Tofu (麻婆豆腐 mápódòufǔ) 
Named for a Qing Dynasty Chengdu restaurateur, this dish of tofu braised in chili bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns and minced pork is perfect for getting the rice down (下饭 xiàfàn).

Tomato Fried with Egg (西红柿炒鸡蛋 xīhóngshìchǎojīdàn)
Simple comfort food and ranked only behind 麻婆豆腐 (above) in its ability to 下饭.

Smashed Cucumber (拍黄瓜 pāihuángguā. 拍 actually means beat, smack or clap) 
Sesame oil, minced garlic, cooking wine, soy sauce and vinegar lift cucumber to unimaginable heights in this classic cold dish. Best paired with a cold 燕京啤酒 yānjīngpíjiǔ on a hot afternoon but tasty anytime.

Return to the Pot Meat, or Twice-cooked Pork (回锅肉 huíguōròu) 
Fatty porked first boiled with green onions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and cooking wine before being cooled, sliced and fried with chili and green peppers. One of the world’s greatest combinations of oil, salt and spice.

Chicken Fried with Chili (辣子鸡 làzǐjī) 
The ubiquitous bones in this dish of deep-fried chicken pieces with ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns and dried chilis turns some foreigners off, but for tenacious diners the rewards are great.

Fried Potato, Peppers and Eggplant (地三鲜 dìsānxiān)
Often a staple for foreign vegetarians, this garlic-fried trio often leaves laowai wishing for a higher ratio of potato.

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