As Chinese food
history is considerably rich for various intricate techniques
and traditions,
Chinese cuisine abounds in many exotic terms which are mostly
mysterious for the Europeans. In today's restaurants of eastern cuisine
Chinese food menu is
generally served with English translation and description of some popular dishes
and methods. Nevertheless, basic Chinese food menu terms are very
useful once you decided to cook something Chinese or just for
liberalizing the outlook.
Thus, Choy means vegetables that are a common ingredient of Chinese food nutrition.
Choy can serve both as a garnish and as an appetizer.
Crab Rangoon refers to deep-fried wontons, a rather widespread
appetizer in American
Chinese food. Before deep-frying the wontons are usually
filled with cram, crab, scallions and cheese.
When a Chinese cook is talking about Dun, he/she has in mind eggs which
in Chinese food menu are often mixed with chicken, vegetables, rice and
beans.
If you see in Chinese food menu such a term as Fon, know that it is
nothing but simple rice, fried or boiled, and coming with carrots, pork
and peas.
Besides that, in Chinese food menu such a well-known ingredient as
chicken is named Gai. There are many different versions of Gai in
Chinese cuisine – from Moo Shu Chicken, usually served with
plum
sauce and vegetables (or Choy), to hot Sichuan Chicken.
If looking through Chinese food menu you come upon some strange Ma Po
Tou Fu (or Marpoo Dofu), be aware that the Chinese use this term for
spicy pork in fragrant bean curd.
Don't be confused either when you see in Chinese food menu an obscure
term Mien, that stands for Chinese noddle – an irreplaceable
garnish for pork or chicken (or Gai).
In case you want to order something sweet or sour, find in Chinese food
menu the section titled Suen (or sour Tiem), as in Chinese food
restaurants these two concepts are closely related.
As the term “wonton” translates as
“swallowing a
cloud”, Wonton soup features floating wontons which look like
light clouds. As an integral part of Chinese food menu, wontons are
stuffed with fragrant seasonings and meat and then are boiled.
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