Advanced menu reading skillz

[count_zero]

Hi.

I'm looking for a resource (preferably internet) to aid my menu-reading skillz.

I know the animals, vegetables and methods but some of the names for dishes are actually quite obsure!

Ta

[liuzhou]

...some of the names for dishes are actually quite obsure!

They are often equally obscure to Chinese people. There is a fashion (?) of giving dishes flowery names which do nothing to convey the contents. So people have to ask.

But then again, I suppose a Chinese person would be bemused by, for example, Waldorf Salad. I can just hear my wife asking me "I've had egg salad and ham salad but never waldarf salad. What is a Waldorf?"

Also worth noting is that dish names can be quite regional. When I moved from Hunan to neighbouring Guangxi I almost starved to death till I realised that they had the same dishes but with completely different names.

[Jo-Ann]

Do you have a copy of "The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters"?? (James McCawley) It was just reprinted and is a great source. I've never found its equal on line.

[geek_frappa]

liuzhou is right about the strange names... but there are some names that most chinese will understand... and maybe they can get the gist... (in some American diners some dishes are called "Roadkill" and "Monster Smash", which are names given to ordinary dishes to match the theme of restaurant.)

examples.... i added these entries from menus of local restaurants,

蒸 <-- steam

http://chinese.primezero.com/soleri/s.php?q=%E8%92%B8

(click on the image links to see pictures of the dishes)

or

Steamed BBQ Something....

http://chinese.primezero.com/soleri/q.php?q=steamed+BBQ

Do you have a copy of "The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters"?? (James McCawley) It was just reprinted and is a great source. I've never found its equal on line.

this is a good resource. i am glad they reprinted it.

[bluepoppy]

Although this site is for vegetarians，it covers some common dishes...and even if you aren't vegetarian yourself it might be nice to know these dishes anyway in case you are with vegetarians, or to help some friends needing halal or kosher food who end up eating vegetarian, or just in case you feel like eating some vegetable dishes! ^_^

http://pratyeka.org/vegetarian-china/

This one is not bad either though it does not contain many of the regional dishes with confusing names ... there's 3 pages (see menu at the right hand side), not just the one I linked, just mentioning it because I didn't notice at first.

http://www.hlyt.com/cihui-cd.htm