What do Chinese People Order at a Chinese Restaurant?

Thank you so much to Janice, James, Karen, Wan Na, and Alex for all your amazing help with my order!

Wan Na has a YT: @onepotwellness

WHAT I ORDERED:
Mini Pork Soup Dumplings
Thousand Year Egg with Green Pepper
Tofu Skin with Hot Green Chili
Chinese Herbal Tea
Acid Bean Minced Pork
Snow Pea Shoots with Garlic
Ants Climbing a Tree
Mini Rice Ball in Chinese sake

OTHER RECS:
Duck Blood Noodle Soup
Ox Tongue and Beef Tripe with Spicy Pepper Sauce
Whole Fish in Sour Cabbage Broth
Salt and Pepper Pork Chop
Golden Frog
Kelp Knot Ribs Soup
Shredded Potato with Chinese Pepper
Big ChunKing
Beef Chow Fun
Classic Braised Pork
Peking Duck
Stir Fried Tomato with Egg
Sesame Rice Ball with Chinese Sake

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
01:08 Mini Pork Soup Dumplings
03:18 Thousand Year Egg with Green Pepper
05:49 Tofu Skin with Hot Green Chili
08:22 Chinese Herbal Tea
09:47 Acid Bean Minced Pork
12:17 Snow Pea Shoots with Garlic
15:55 Ants Climbing a Tree
19:21 Mini Rice Ball in Chinese sake

Wanna mail something?
Beryl Shereshewsky
115 East 34th Street FRNT 1
PO Box 1742
New York, NY 10156

[vector]

Chinese food tends to be very diverse and regional. You could always make additional videos of regional cuisines if you run out of ideas one day.

[YumeriaFreak]

It's been already mentioned in the comments, but to phrase it a bit differently: there aren't Chinese restaurants in China. There are restaurants that specialize in regional cuisines (e.g. Beryl ordered from a Sichuan place, one of the 8 major regional cuisines), certain types of experiences (e.g. grilled food, dim sum, hot pot), or other specialties (e.g. breakfast places, noodle houses, dumpling houses). With such a diverse geography, historically people ate and cooked very differently in different parts of China. Loads of food adventures for anyone to try. 😄

[daphnefleurrr]

I think people tend to forget how ethnically diverse China is. Food from different regions is so strongly shaped by both their unique environments as well as the different ethnic groups that live there, making Chinese food so regionally diverse 💕

[PixelHuntAu]

Texture is a very important component in Chinese food. Foods that have a "bounce" (when you were trying to describe the chew of the tofu skin) is sometimes referred to as being "QQ". Things like boba, the glutinous rice balls in the dessert you had, or those bean thread noodles in the "ants on a tree" dish all have that QQ element.

[yenhung]

To answer your question, Chinese food is meant to be eaten piping hot. One of the things we often say to each other at the table is 趁热吃， which translates to "eat it while it's hot".

[RoxanneRichardson]

It's a pretty easy conversation to have at the start of the meal: do you want to get a few things to share, or do you want your own dish? If both want to share and both are interested in two different things, then you share. If you can't agree on two things you'd both like, then no sharing. I've sometimes been trying to decide between two different things, while another person was trying to decide between the two same things, so that made total sense to share. The point is to be flexible.

[mikelo]

I am a 60yo Chinese man and I enjoy this video so much that I have to share it with my daughter instantly.

[huggledemon]

Growing up as a Caucasian Australian, I was accustomed to not sharing my meals, but when I got to uni I lived with Asians for about 5 years- so now I’m all about sharing- which tbh, drives my family crazy lol- they have not been introduced to the joys of eating “family style”- unless we are eating something like Chinese, Thai, Indian etc- in which case we each order something different which we do share, but sometimes it’s a bit odd- the dish we order is “mostly ours” but we do share SOME of it lol

[cel]

I'm chinese indonesian, and I'm probably speaking on behalf of myself. But I feel like gate-keeping "oh you're not eating real chinese food if you don't eat x" diminish just how widespread, rich, and adaptable chinese cuisine is. There's so many variation on "chinese food" both in China (iirc there 8 of them just in PRC) and overseas (peranakan, taiwanese, indo-chinese, etc.) so tbh if any non-chinese feeling like "oh no this isn't real chinese food", I beg to differ. The popular american chinese food in your area might not be the ones eaten in the PRC or actual chinese people, but it's still as chinese as it is american. It's not more "authentic" or "better". It's just great food


Everywhere we went, we brought our food, and non-chinese people love it so much that they tried to made it their own using what they could get. That's beautiful to me, and I wish people continue to do that. I will definitely be waiting for other variation of chinese food in the future.

[Yinyueify]

I'm Chinese American and love trying a lot of dishes from other regions from China since my parents mostly only exposed me to Guangdong cuisine. I didn't know half of these dishes, and I think that shows how many regional cuisines there are. Always something new to learn

[rmelper]

"Get two and split" is a must for my spouse and I. If I don't want to do it, it's because I want something on the menu that I know is not their favorite. That's about the only time I go rogue; then we'll typically have bites of each other without committing to forfeiting half of our entree. I don't have many other people in my life who would be up for sharing, unfortunately.

[tinycandypanda]

For the temperature, depends on the dish. Also, since it is family style, each entree enters the table at the same time, and cools at the same time. Soups are almost ALWAYS meant to be scalding hot. There are definitely dishes you don't want to wait for it to cool (eg. claypot oysters)... that's my take!

[TierraD]

I think it's important to point out that Chinese food is incredibly regional. Most of the dishes here were from Szechuan/Sichuan, which is known for their distinct flavor profile, but other parts of China also have amazing cuisines that would also be "authentic."

Regarding your question about food sharing, I understand that there are cultures different from mine but if we've been friends for a long time and you're not comfortable with sharing food, I have failed in our friendship 😂

[Sielleis]

Your question about sharing food made me laugh. Even though I was born in the US, my family is Filipino and I grew up thinking duh, of course everyone shares food at a restaurant. It was a culture shock when I was old enough to go out to eat with friends and I realized that's not the norm in the US.
I definitely "tested" my now-husband on our second date to make sure he was a food sharer and adventurous eater too. As an incredibly food-motivated person, those are my deal breakers. 😂

[emmalarson]

When I went to Taiwan, I was blown away by the kinds of foods they had. I distinctly remember one person telling me, "Don't ask, just eat." Not exactly the thing you usually want to hear about food but sometimes that's what you have to do! I also have a friend from China that introduced me to some more authentic mainland dishes that blew my mind! I still like a good general tsos or sesame chicken, but there are definitely much better options out there!

[andreag]

So I used to date someone who was very much like “this plate is mine, that plate is yours” but was always glad to share a bite with each other so it wasn’t a big deal. I definitely had to change my expectation of “sharing”. It didn’t bother me though and it made eating with my mom equally special because my mom and I coordinate what we’ll order and share all the dishes.

[Wo_SH]

Not a food recommendation but a utensil recommendation. I'd recommend you getting some Chinese soup spoons. They're deeper, shorter, and I find the handle angle much better for soup bowls. They're really good for getting a lot of broth and food bits all in one bite.

[onepotwellness]

Thank you so much for letting me work with you on this video Beryl! I totally agree with everyone in the comments. It would be so fun to do video on regional Chinese foods as there is SO much to unpack there.

[woodypiffinton]

Recently, I discovered a restaurant in a nearby town that specializes in Shanghainese cuisine. It completely changed my perception of Chinese food. They called their soup dumplings "juicy buns" -- and they were EXCELLENT! I have grown accustomed to Americanized Szechuan and Cantonese style food. I could tell this place was the real deal because they served WHOLE FISH with the head intact. It was an amazing experience and I will plan to visit again very soon.

[gil_sh]

Randomly saw your video, and I'm glad you enjoyed the dishes. I grew up in Beijing, but my parents are from southern part of China (Fujian province), so I got to try a lot of different Chinese cuisines (yea, plural because they are so different from each other haha). I'd say depending on the food, serving temperature differs. Most dishes served at restaurants will be hot to show you that they are freshly made. However, since they are served on plates, the heat dissipates fast and you will usually eat them at room temperature served over warm rice, congee or buns. One exception is soup, and you always want it served hot. Also rice, noodles, congee and buns are usually considered "entrées" (主食) in China because carbs fill your stomach, and the side dishes are supposed to add flavor to them. That's why people usually share a lot of different dishes at the table, so you can help yourself and DIY your own flavor to your bowl. And I love sharing food