Can anybody help me out with some other ways to ask that vegetables be fried other than simply sùchǎo (素炒)? Ta.
Can anybody help me out with some other ways to ask that vegetables be fried other than simply sùchǎo (素炒)? Ta.
Fry is you2 zha2(油炸) if i remember right. I don't know if that's a good idea, the other day i saw a news about the oil they use in many chinese restaurant, something like recycled trash oil, it looks like quite common for them to use that oil and cheap obviously.
Two of the other simple ones are 蒜炒 (suan chao), fry with garlic and 青炒 (qing chao), which I believe means 'fry with green peppers'
The other useful thing to know is how to combine ingredients in your order. The basic formula is 'something chao something', so 番茄炒鸡蛋 (fanqie chao jidan) is 'fried tomato and egg'. Try slapping some of your favorite ingredients together like that. Most small family restaurants will oblige, or suggest something better.
As it is "romanized" (spelling?) here as "chao" (炒) is best equated with the French word "saute". 青炒 (qing chao) does not mean with green peppers, though 青 (qing) means green but it also means "plain" or "simple", depending on the context of the subject matter. So, 青炒 (qing chao) here simply means stir-fry (saute) without the intolerable amount of garlic (a practiced all over China, except in traditional Guangdong cuisine, which only uses a fraction of the amount).
I cannot tolerate my vegetables covered with more white sprinkles of garlic than the natural color of the vegetable itself, because it'll over-power the taste of the vegetable and gives me a stinking garlic breath for days after. I always tries to order my vegetables 青炒 (qing chao), but none of cooks seem to comply with my request. So, if you also prefer 青炒, you need to be adamant about you request, repeat it to the waiter over and over, if necessary.
if you're combining ingredients, the amount of each
item thrown in generally decreases as you go down the list.
青椒番茄炒鸡蛋 would have more green peppers 青椒 than 番茄,
and more 番茄 than 鸡蛋.
Thanks for the tips, all. Any other tricks that you like to employ when confronted with the veggie rack and an impatient fuwuyuan?
I tell them I have an acute medical condition and do not want to eat the wrong food and die in the restaurant for all to see! I do that with a smile and with a serious face. That sometimes helps to get what I ordered.
point to what you want wo yao zhege, zhege, ye yao zhege..
put 'em all together fang zai yiqi,
(stir) fry 'em up chao.
Quote: "Fry is you2 zha2(油炸) if i remember right."
I believe 油炸 is deep fry (like French fries at McDonalds.) May not be what you had in mind.
This article might be of interest. It's from Chengdu, but gives some information on ordering stir fried dishes plus some translations of common menu items.