Chinese Food Guides
Guides
Plain explanations of the dishes on a Chinese menu, and practical help with ordering.
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The Chinese Takeout Box Was Never Chinese
The most recognisable symbol of Chinese food in America started as a container for raw shellfish, and it is not used in China at all.
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Why Chinese Restaurants Sell Chicken Wings and French Fries
Every Chinese takeout menu seems to have one: a section of wings, fried shrimp and fries that has nothing to do with China. There is a…
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Why Chinese Menus Are So Long, and How to Navigate One
Two hundred and eighty-four listings sounds overwhelming until you see the pattern underneath. Then it becomes the easiest menu in town to read.
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Can You Customise a Chinese Takeout Order?
Most people assume the menu is fixed and order around what they do not want. Usually they did not need to.
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Ordering Vegetarian at a Chinese Restaurant
A Chinese menu looks full of vegetarian options, and mostly it is. The complication is not the dishes — it is what is in the sauce.
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Does Chinese Food Come With Rice? What Is Included, Section by Section
The single most common ordering question, and the one menus answer least clearly. A section-by-section look at what actually arrives.
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Why Bourbon Chicken Is on a Chinese Menu
It is not Chinese, it is not named after the whiskey in the way most people assume, and it is on almost every Chinese-American menu in…
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Why Restaurant Chinese Food Tastes Different
The same ingredients and the same recipe produce something noticeably different at home. The reason is mostly heat, and it is more extreme than people expect.
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Chinese Sauces Explained: Brown, White, Garlic and Black Bean
The sauce is what separates one Chinese dish from another far more than the protein does. A plain guide to the four you meet most.
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Which Lo Mein Should You Order?
Seven versions of the same noodle dish, and the protein changes more than you would expect. A short guide to choosing.