Popular Chinese DishesWhat to order, and how to say it
These are the dishes you will find on menus across China and in Chinese restaurants abroad. Each has its Chinese name, pinyin, native audio and a short note on what it is.
Popular Chinese Dishes: the essential names
1. Kung Pao chicken
Diced chicken stir-fried with peanuts and dried chillies. A Sichuan classic: savoury, slightly sweet and lightly numbing.
2. Mapo tofu
Soft tofu in a red, spicy and numbing sauce with minced meat, from Sichuan. 麻 is the tingling of Sichuan pepper.
3. Peking duck
Roast duck with crisp skin, carved at the table and wrapped in thin pancakes with scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce.
4. Sweet and sour pork tenderloin
Strips of crispy fried pork tenderloin in a sweet and sour sauce, a northern classic. The Cantonese sweet and sour pork with pineapple and peppers is a different dish, 咕咾肉 (gūlǎoròu).
5. Hot pot
A pot of simmering broth in the middle of the table; everyone cooks thin meat, vegetables and noodles in it. Chongqing hot pot is famously spicy.
6. Dumplings
Boiled dumplings filled with meat and vegetables, eaten with vinegar. A northern Chinese staple; in the north it is the dish of Chinese New Year's Eve.
7. Soup dumplings (xiaolongbao)
Small steamed buns filled with pork and hot soup, from the Shanghai area. Bite a small hole and sip the soup first.
8. Chow mein (fried noodles)
Stir-fried noodles with vegetables and meat. "Chow mein" is the Cantonese pronunciation of 炒面.
9. Fried rice
Rice stir-fried with egg, vegetables and meat. 扬州炒饭 (Yangzhou fried rice) is the best-known version.
10. Dan dan noodles
Sichuan noodles in a spicy, nutty sauce with minced pork. The name comes from the shoulder poles (担) street sellers once carried.
11. Hot and sour soup
A thick soup that is both spicy (white pepper) and sour (vinegar), with tofu, mushrooms and egg ribbons.
12. Char siu (Cantonese barbecue pork)
Roast pork glazed with a sweet, red marinade, a Cantonese favourite served with rice or in buns.
13. Twice-cooked pork
Pork belly boiled, sliced and then stir-fried with green garlic shoots and Sichuan chilli bean paste (doubanjiang) — "back in the wok" meat, a Sichuan home dish.
14. Tomato and egg stir-fry
One of the most common home dishes in China: soft scrambled eggs with sweet-sour tomatoes, eaten with rice.
15. Beef noodle soup
Noodles in beef broth. Lanzhou's hand-pulled version (兰州牛肉面) and Taiwan's braised version are both famous.
16. Fish-fragrant eggplant
Soft eggplant in a garlicky, sweet, sour and spicy sauce. Despite the name, there is no fish in it — "fish-fragrant" is the sauce style.
Useful phrases
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 服务员！ | Fúwùyuán! | English Excuse me! (calling the waiter) | Note |
| 有菜单吗？ | Yǒu càidān ma? | English Do you have a menu? | Note |
| 有什么推荐的？ | Yǒu shénme tuījiàn de? | English What do you recommend? | Note |
| 我要这个。 | Wǒ yào zhège. | English I'll have this one. | Note |
| 不要太辣。 | Bú yào tài là. | English Not too spicy, please. | Note |
| 买单！ | Mǎidān! | English The bill, please! | Note |
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular Chinese dish?
There is no single answer, but Kung Pao chicken (宫保鸡丁), mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐), Peking duck (北京烤鸭) and dumplings (饺子) are among the best known in China and abroad.
Are Chinese restaurant dishes abroad the same as in China?
Some are close (Peking duck, dumplings), others were adapted to local tastes. General Tso's chicken, for example, is little known in China.