1. edible oil 油 salt 盐 soy sauce 酱油 vinegar 醋 green onion 葱 ginger 姜 garlic 蒜 chili 辣椒 pepper 胡椒 MSG 味精 essence of chicken 鸡精 sugar 糖 ketchup 番茄酱 mustard 芥末 curry 咖喱 sesame 芝麻 sour sweet bitter spicy / hot salty bake 烤 boil 煮 fry 煎 / 炒 grill 烧烤 roast 烘烤 steam 蒸 poach/stew/simmer 炖

2. 烧饼 clay oven rolls 煎饼 pancake 油条 fried bread stick 水饺 boiled dumplings 蒸饺 steamed dumplings 馒头 steamed buns 咸鸭蛋 salted duck egg /preserved duck egg 豆浆 soybean milk 稀饭 rice porridge 刀削面 sliced noodles 麻辣面 spicy hot noodles 乌龙面 seafood noodles 米粉 / 米线 rice noodles 春卷 spring rolls 碗糕 salty rice pudding

3. 猪脚 pig‘s knuckle 腊肉 preserved meat 叉烧 barbecued pork 熏肉 bacon 香肠 sausage 腐乳 preserved bean curd 豆豉 fermented blank bean 皮蛋 preserved egg 炸薯条 French fires 马铃薯泥 mashed potatoes 泡菜 pickled vegetables 荷包蛋 poached egg 炒蛋 scrambled eggs 煮蛋 boiled egg

4. Ten Representative Northern Dishes: Beef with spring onions 青葱炒牛肉 – a dish of beef and spring onions that is flavored with soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Cabbage rolls with mustard oil 芥末白菜 – Chinese cabbage brushed with mustard oil, rolled up and steamed. Earthen jar pork 罐肉 – fatty pork belly, the same cut as bacon, is cooked slowly in a clay jar, creating a very rich brown sauce and succulent ( 汁多味美的 ) pork. Hand pulled noodles in soup 抻面 – literally pulled by hand, this soup is flavored with various things as red-stewed beef or pork, pickled vegetables, or with shredded chicken and chili sauce. Mongolian hotpot 火锅 – thought to be first practiced by Mongolian soldiers using their helmets to prepare meals, today uses simmering cauldrons of soup over charcoal, used to individually cook all manner of meat, fish, seafood and vegetables. Soup may be spicy hot depending on personal taste.

5. Mu Shu pork 木须肉 – despite being used on a variety of menus everywhere, this is actually a northern dish originating from Beijing. Pork cut into shreds is combined with black mushrooms, wood ear fungus, cabbage and accompanied by pancakes and sauce. Peking duck 北京烤鸭 – most famous dish from Beijing, multi-step preparation that results in succulent crisp skin eaten with scallion, cucumber and a sweet brown sauce, wrapped in a thin wheat pancake. Stir-fried eggs and tomatoes 番茄炒蛋 – this simple dish is relatively modern in that tomatoes are a “new world” ingredient, yet today has become a staple dish in the north. Sweet and sour carp 山东糖醋鱼 – deep fried carp with a sauce based on sugar and vinegar. Stewed sea cucumber with crab eggs 山东蟹黄海参 – a Shandong specialty, sea cucumber, also known as sea slugs, readily absorbs flavors and have an almost crunchy ( 松脆的 ) texture. The crab eggs lend a rich subtle flavor to the otherwise bland sea cucumber.

6. Ten Representative Eastern Dishes: Beggar’s chicken 叫化鸡 – traditionally a whole chicken flavored with Shaoxing wine, is first wrapped in lotus leaves then with clay and cooked in a fire. Dongpo pork 东坡肉 – a red-stewed, braised pork dish, usually cooked in an earthenware vessel, is named after distinguished poet Su Dongpo of the 11 th century, succulent and rich. Dragon Well tea prawns 龙井虾 – prawns cooked with fresh Dragon Well tea leaves, a specialty in the Hangzhou region. Hot and sour soup 酸辣汤 – deliciously spicy with a tinge of vinegar, this soup is full of sliver of meat, tofu, bamboo shoots and egg. Lion’s head meatballs 狮子头 – these meatballs are said to resemble a lion’s head, made with pork, deep fried and braised in a rich brown sauce.

7. Red-stewed pork 红烧肉 – braised pork leg dish made with Shaoxing rice wine, dark soy sauce, five-spice powder and rock sugar. Sweet and sour pork 古老肉 – deliciously deep fried pieces of pork are drenched in a sweet and sour sauce with chunks of pineapples. West Lake beef soup 西湖牛肉羹 – this famous soup is named after West Lake of Hangzhou made with beef, peas and eggs. West Lake poached fish 西湖醋鱼 – originally from Hangzhou, the fish is first marinate with ginger, soy sauce, sugar and black vinegar, poached whole then sauced with the marinade. Yangzhou fried rice 扬州炒饭 – this well-known fried rice dish used shrimp, peas, and scrambled eggs. It is distinctly flavored with chicken stock, Shaoxing wine, thin soy sauce and sesame oil.

8. Ten Representative Southern Dishes: Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce 蚝油芥兰 – a very simple classic preparation for Chinese broccoli or other vegetables such as lettuce, using oyster sauce. Clay pot chicken 海南鸡饭 – chicken, long grain rice, sweet pork sausage and black mushrooms are cooked in a clay pot and served with a soy, rice wine, sugar and sesame oil based sauce. Drunken prawns steamed with rice wine 醉虾 – steamed with Shaoxing wine, or other rice based wine, live shrimps are drowned by letting the shrimp swim in rice wine before they are steamed.

9. Barbeque pork 蜜汁叉烧 – that’s usually dark red on the outside and juicy and succulent on the inside, often served as a side dish or on top of rice or noodles. Pepper and salt fried shrimp 椒盐虾 – seasoned with pepper and salt, the shrimps are cooked very crisp resulting in shrimp shells that are crunchy and edible, if cooked whole the heads may be eaten as well. Pig knuckle stew 白云猪手 – a pig knuckle is first boiled then slowly stewed in a mixture of vinegar, sugar and salt, this dish has a sweet tangy zest. Roast duck Cantonese style 广东烤鸭 – this roast duck does not have the crispy skin of Peking duck, but is more flavorful, it’s marinate with five spice powder, soy and sugar or honey, typically some marinade is poured into the ducks cavity before roasting.

10. Roast pigeon 烤鸽 – best when plain roasted and accompanied by pepper-salt for dipping, the rich succulent flavor of pigeon is not masked by anything, typical of Cantonese cuisine. Salt baked chicken 盐烤鸡 – a whole chicken is buried in salt using a large wok and cooked producing amazingly succulent chicken. Whole steamed fish 清蒸全鱼 – nearly any variety can be used, more of a universal Cantonese technique than a dish, often uses slivers of scallion and ginger, thin soy sauce and a quick dousing of smoking hot oil, usually uses whole fish and steamed until just cooked.

11. Ten Representative Western Dishes: Ants climbing up a tree 蚂蚁上树 – a spicy dish of bean thread noodles and pork that resemble ants climbing trees. Bang bang chicken 棒棒鸡 – a classic Sichuanese cold platter made with chicken, cucumber and bean thread noodles, dressed with a sesame based sauce. Crispy shredded beef 灯影牛肉 – thought to originate from Sichuan or Hunan uses carrots, spring onion, garlic and chili, sauced with sugar, vinegar and soy. Dan dan noodles 担担面 – noodles with a spicy sauce made with hot chilies and ground pork. Dry fried green beans 干煸四季豆 – green beans are always cut into bit size pieces, first deep fried, and then stir-fried with ground pork and Sichuan peppercorns.

12. Kung pao chicken 宫保鸡丁 – this classic dish from Sichuan is made with chicken, chili and peanuts. Mapo tofu 麻婆豆腐 – a classic Sichuan dish literally meaning “pockmarked grandmother tofu” using tofu, ground pork, copious quantities of red chilies and Sichuan peppercorns, it’s named after an old woman thought to have first made this dish in her restaurant. Mouth watering beef 水煮牛肉 – named because this dish is so good it makes your mouth water with anticipation, beef is cooked with a very large quantity of chili laced oil, effectively poaching the beef with hot oil, this dish is also made with fish or lamb as well. Smoked fish 熏鱼 – originating from Guangxi, this fish dish is not smoked, but takes on a smoky quality from first being marinate with five spice, ginger, Shaoxing wine, and sugar, deep fried then marinate again. Twice cooked pork 回锅肉 – pork is first boiled, then stir-fried with peppers, chili and soy sauce.

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