Chinese Menu Primer:

         The Menu Converter explains terms which you may find on a Chinese menu.

If you feel there are omissions, or if you wish to know what something is that is not listed, please email us with your suggestions, and we shall expand our list.

Tofu  Cantonese bean curd. Bean curd is the solid substance which is formed through the action of acid on liquidized beans. Almost tasteless in its natural state, it is highly nutritious, and often used as a meat substitute.

Black bean sauce Sauce made from black beans and garlic. Slightly bitter, it is generally made with chilies, and so can be somewhat spicy, depending on the chef.

Char siu Roast pork from the south of China.

Chop suey An Americanism for anything cooked with bean sprouts as the main ingredient.

Chow mein Literally 'fried noodles'. Cooked noodles are fried with meat and/or vegetables.

Crispy aromatic duck Duck served with light pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and hoi sin sauce. The duck goes through a number of cooking processes, and takes around 5 hours to cook.

Dim Sum  A Cantonese subset of cuisine. Dim sum is a range of small snacks, almost always steamed, and served with tea. It is a lunchtime cuisine, and eaten slowly over long conversations.

Dumplings What the Chinese refer to as dumplings are either ravioli-type boiled 'dumplings' or else steamed buns made of sweet dough and filled in the centre with meats or sweet fillings.

Fu Young An egg dish which is a cross between scrambled egg and an omelet.

Hoi sin sauce A barbecue sauce, very rich.

Kung Pao A spicy hot dish made with chilies and spring onions.

Ma Po Tofu A spicy bean curd dish with minced beef in a rich thick sauce.

Mongolian hot pot A firm favorite in northern China, the Mongolian hot pot is akin to a fondue. A 'pan' of water is heated at the table (in China this is done with a portable coal stove) and raw sliced meats and vegetables are served. The diners then cook the food themselves. The opposite of fast food, it is as much a social occasion as a meal.

Noodles The original spaghetti.

Pancake roll An alternative name for spring rolls.

Satay A Malaysian dish where meat is placed on wooden skewers and deep fried. Usually it served with a sauce for dipping.

Seaweed As it suggests, seaweed. However, often some other vegetable is substituted. As it is deep fried, dry and usually salty, most people cannot tell the difference!

Sesame toast Bread covered in a prawn based paste which is used as the adhesive to coat the bread in sesame seeds. This is then deep fried.

Shark's fin soup Soup made from the flesh of shark's fin. A delicacy among the Chinese

Singapore fried noodles Thin noodles with a mixture of meats and seafoods, quite spicy.

Siu mai Steamed 'meat ball'. A “dim sum” dish.

Spring roll Translated from the Chinese name, spring rolls are sheets of rice paper or a pasta type skin, filled with meat and/or vegetables and deep fried.

Szechuan style Szechuan cooking is hot and spicy, and generally anything which is described as such will be spiked with chilies.

Won ton A pork/prawn dumpling which is usually boiled, but can be deep fried, in which case the casing becomes crispy.