The dishes
Typical plates, one page each.
What goes in, how it is cooked, what it should taste like, and which allergens hide in a sauce the menu will not name.
北京烤鸭
Peking duck
A whole duck, lacquered and roasted, carved at the table and wrapped with scallion.
炸酱面
Zhajiangmian
Wheat noodles with a salty fermented-soybean sauce and a pile of raw vegetables.
煎饼
Jianbing
A crisp street crepe for breakfast, cooked on a round griddle and folded around egg and sauce.
小笼包
Xiaolongbao
Soup dumplings. The broth is inside the wrapper, which is why you do not bite them like a bun.
生煎
Shengjian mantou
Pan-fried soup buns. Thicker than xiaolongbao, crisp on the bottom, still full of broth.
葱油拌面
Scallion oil noodles
Wheat noodles dressed with the oil left from frying scallions. A small bowl that shows whether the kitchen cares.
麻婆豆腐
Mapo tofu
Soft tofu in a hot, numbing sauce of chili bean paste and ground meat.
宫保鸡丁
Gongbao chicken
Diced chicken, scorched dried chili, and peanuts. The Sichuan version is numbing as well as hot.
四川火锅
Sichuan hotpot
A pot of chili and beef tallow, kept boiling, with plates of meat and vegetables you cook yourself.
担担面
Dan dan noodles
Wheat noodles with chili oil, Sichuan pepper, minced pork, and usually sesame.
回锅肉
Twice-cooked pork
Pork belly boiled, sliced, and fried again with chili bean paste and leek.
饺子
Jiaozi
Boiled dumplings. Wheat wrappers, a savory filling, and vinegar on the side.
肉夹馍
Roujiamo
Slow-cooked meat in a griddled wheat bun. Eat it standing.
biangbiang面
Biangbiang noodles
Very wide wheat noodles with chili oil, garlic, and vinegar.
羊肉泡馍
Yangrou paomo
Lamb soup with torn wheat bread soaked in the bowl.
兰州牛肉面
Lanzhou beef noodles
Clear beef soup, hand-pulled noodles, chili oil on the side. A morning bowl far beyond Lanzhou.
叉烧
Char siu
Roasted pork with a sweet-savory red glaze. Usually leaner cuts than belly, sliced over rice.
虾饺
Har gow
A dim-sum dumpling with a translucent wrapper and a whole piece of shrimp inside.
白切鸡
White-cut chicken
Poached chicken, cooled, and cut, with a ginger-scallion dip. The simplest serious Cantonese plate.
烧鹅
Roast goose
Crisp-skinned goose, chopped, with a plum or vinegar-garlic sauce.
煲仔饭
Claypot rice
Rice cooked in a clay pot so the bottom forms a crust, usually with cured meat.
桂林米粉
Guilin rice noodles
Breakfast rice noodles in a pork broth, with pickled vegetables and a handful of toppings you point at.
过桥米线
Crossing-the-bridge noodles
A very hot bowl of broth, with rice noodles and raw ingredients you cook in it at the table.
重庆小面
Chongqing noodles
Small bowls of wheat noodles, chili oil, and Sichuan pepper. Breakfast, eaten fast.
东坡肉
Dongpo pork
Braised pork belly, sweet and savory, cooked until a chopstick goes through.
西湖醋鱼
West Lake vinegar fish
Grass carp, quickly cooked and coated in a sweet-sour vinegar sauce.
鱼香茄子
Fish-fragrant eggplant
Eggplant in a sweet, sour, hot sauce. The name does not mean fish.
番茄炒蛋
Tomato and egg
Scrambled egg and tomato. The dish people cook when they are not performing.
狮子头
Lion’s head meatballs
Large pork meatballs, braised or steamed, named for their size rather than for lion.
锅包肉
Guobaorou
Crispy battered pork in a sharp sweet-sour sauce. The Dongbei plate, not the Cantonese one.
沙茶面
Sha-cha noodles
A noodle soup built on sha-cha paste: savory, a little sweet, and not tea.
辣炒蛤蜊
Spicy clams
Small clams stir-fried with chili and garlic. Hear the price first.
孜然羊肉
Cumin lamb
Lamb, usually on skewers or in a hot wok, with a heavy hand of cumin and chili.