Chinese food vocabulary

Chinese people so love to eat that there’s a funny saying: all animals fly in the sky, run on the land and even swim in the water can be the delicacies on Chinese table. You must want to have a taste of the Chinese food when hear it, but how can you tell the restaurant waiter or your Chinese friend the food you want to eat? Or how to buy food from market when you want to cook Chinese food by yourself?

Take a close look at the Chinese vocabulary list for different types of food below.

蔬菜(shū cài)
Vegetables in Chinese

Chinese	Pinyin	English
玉米	yù mǐ	Corn
土豆	tǔ dòu	Potato
生姜	shēng jiāng	Ginger
大蒜	dà suàn	Garlic
豆	dòu	Bean
西兰花	xī lán huā	Broccoli
黄瓜	huáng guā	Cucumber
韭菜	jiǔ cài	Leek
蘑菇	mó gū	Mushroom
木耳	mù ěr	Agarics
青椒	qīng jiāo	Green pepper
辣椒	là jiāo	Pepper
西红柿	xī hóng shì	Tomato
茄子	qié zǐ	Aborigine
萝卜	luó bo	Radish
芋头	yù tóu	Taro
白菜	bái cài	Cabbage
菠菜	bō cài	Spinach
南瓜	nán guā	Pumpkin
苦瓜	kǔ guā	Bitter gourd

肉(ròu)
Meat in Chinese

Chinese	Pinyin	English
猪肉	zhū ròu	Pork
鸡肉	jī ròu	Chicken
火鸡	huǒ jī	Turkey
鸡翅膀	jī chì bǎng	Chicken wing
鸭肉	yā ròu	Duck
鹅肉	é ròu	Goose
狗肉	gǒu ròu	Dog meat
牛肉	niú ròu	Beef
鱼	yú	Fish
虾	xiā	Shrimp
火腿	huǒ tuǐ	Ham
热狗	rè gǒu	Hot dog
羊肉	yáng ròu	Mutton
兔子肉	tù zǐ ròu	Rabbit meat

水果(shuǐ guǒ)
Fruit in Chinese

Chinese	Pinyin	English
苹果	píng guǒ	Apple
香蕉	xiāng jiāo	Banana
芒果	máng guǒ	Mango
葡萄	pú táo	Grape
橙子	chéng zǐ	Orange
草莓	cǎo méi	Strawberry
西瓜	xī guā	Melon
樱桃	yīng táo	Cherry
柑橘	gān jú	Mandarin
桃子	táo zǐ	Peach
梨	lí	Pear
蓝莓	lán méi	Blueberry
椰子	yē zǐ	Coconut
奇异果	qí yì guǒ	Kiwi
柠檬	níng méng	Lemon
牛油果	niú yóu guǒ	Avocado
菠萝	bō luó	Pineapple
石榴	shí liú	Pomegranate

饮料(yǐn liào)
Drink

Chinese	Pinyin	English
茶	chá	Tea
牛奶	niú nǎi	Milk
奶茶	nǎi chá	Milky tea
咖啡	kā fēi	Coffee
汽水	qì shuǐ	Pop
可口可乐	kě kǒu kě lè	Cocoa
雪碧	xuě bì	Sprite
果汁	guǒ zhī	Fruit juice
柠檬水	níng méng shuǐ	Lemonade
啤酒	pí jiǔ	Beer
白酒	bái jiǔ	White spirits
红酒	hóng jiǔ	Red wine

面食(miàn shi)
Flour Food in Chinese

In northern China, people are adept at making flour food. Flour food are always served as breakfast, but sometimes it could be the festival food, here’s an example, Chinese like to eat dumplings on midwinter and the Spring Festival. Now, let’s see what delicious Chinese flour foods you should taste.
 

Now, you have mastered almost all the basic Chinese food vocabulary, the next thing you should do is to eat, eat, eat! !

In the video below, Clarice Zhao, one of the most excellent teachers of Hanbridge Mandarin, will teach you how to order food in Chinese.

Hope you enjoy Chinese food and enjoy your life in China! :D