You point at a picture on a Chinese menu.
It looks good.
You order it.
The dish arrives.
You take a bite.
Then you look at Elaine and ask:
“Er… what exactly ARE we eating? 😂”
Welcome to one of the most common little adventures of eating your way around China.
🥟 The Quick Bite
Chinese food is enormously regional.
Travel around China and you may encounter:
ingredients + cuts of meat + cooking methods + textures + dish names
that are completely unfamiliar to you.
And translating the Chinese name into English doesn’t always solve the mystery.
Sometimes it creates another one. 😂
🌍 If You’re Trying to Place It…
Think about someone unfamiliar with your own food seeing a name such as:
“toad in the hole”
or:
“bubble and squeak.”
A literal translation isn’t necessarily going to tell them what’s on the plate.
Chinese dish names can create the same problem.
👀 Start With These Words
A few characters can help enormously:
鸡 (jī) — chicken
猪 (zhū) — pork / pig
牛 (niú) — beef / cattle
鱼 (yú) — fish
蛋 (dàn) — egg
豆腐 (dòufu) — tofu
面 (miàn) — noodles
Recognizing even one ingredient can turn:
“WHAT IS THAT?”
into:
“Ahhh… at least we know it’s chicken. 😂”
📱 Don’t Be Afraid to Ask
Useful Chinese:
这是什么？(Zhè shì shénme?)
“What is this?”
Or use your translation app and show the staff.
Photographing the menu and translating the text can also help — although automatic translations sometimes produce wonderfully mysterious English.
If you have allergies or dietary restrictions, don’t rely only on guessing from the photograph.
Ask.
😋 And Sometimes… Just Try It
Not knowing immediately what something is doesn’t automatically make it bad.
Some of Dad & Elaine’s food discoveries happened precisely because we weren’t ordering something already familiar.
You may discover:
a new ingredient
a different texture
a regional specialty
or occasionally…
something Dad decides Elaine can finish. 😂
That’s part of travelling too.
🥟 One Last Bite
When an unfamiliar Chinese dish arrives, you have two useful questions:
“What is that?”
and then:
“Do I like it?”
Don’t confuse the two.
You don’t need to recognize everything on the plate before you’re allowed to enjoy it.
Sometimes the best China Bite begins with:
“We have absolutely no idea what we just ordered.” 😂
See China. Understand It Better.
