Episode 0291

That's right, today we are ordering Chinese food. Now for many of you listeners that are actually Chinese, you may not recognize these dishes because we are talking about American Chinese food.

That's right, so long, long ago, people came over to America from mainly Hong Kong. And so a lot of the food we have, it's kind of more like Hong Kong food.

Cantonese food.

Cantonese food, but it's also very American.

So, let's take a listen to today's dialogue and find out exactly what we're eating.

Uh, Coke for me, please.

I'll have a Sprite.

Okay, I'll go get that for you. Are there any questions with the menu?

Do you use MSG?

No, ma'am. We are MSG free.

I think I'm going to get the sesame chicken with fried rice, a spring roll and egg drop soup.

I think I'll get General Tso's chicken, hot and sour soup, fried wontons and white rice.

Aren't you supposed to be on a diet? You should at least get brown rice.

I might even get an order of broccoli beef.

All right, we're back. So obviously everything seems so good, very typical American Chinese dishes. And we have a lot of things that we can take a look at. So let's start with language takeaway.

Language Takeaway

In language takeaway today, we're going to be talking about some general food words, words that you can use when you're ordering food.

So, the first one we should talk about is this MSG.

Right, Andrea asks, "Do you use MSG?"

So why is she asking this and what is MSG?

MSG is a an ingredient in foods. It's kind of like a condiment, something that you put on the food after the food has been cooked.

And it makes the food taste better, brighter.

It intensifies the flavors a little bit.

Yeah, and it's kind of, it looks like salt or sugar. It's on the tables usually at Chinese restaurants, but a lot of people don't like MSG because they don't think it's very safe for their bodies.

Right. And so, actually, the waitress says that the food is MSG free, which means there's no MSG in it.

That's right. Okay, so she says, our food is MSG free, which is this this chemical. I think it's it's kind of like a chemical that you described.

That's right. And a lot of people don't want it. So you can ask, "Is this food MSG-free?"

You can also ask, "Is it fat-free?" "Is it salt-free?" So this is a very helpful way of asking about what the ingredients are in a dish.

That's right. That's right. And actually, Manny is talking about the food as well and he says, "Yeah, I've been craving Chinese for such a long time."

Okay, so the the verb here is to crave, but he said he's been craving. So he really has been wanting this food for a long time.

So if you say, "I'm craving Italian food," what does that mean?

That means I really want to eat Italian food. You feel like having Italian food.

That's right. So, if I'm craving some kind of food, I really want to eat it.

Okay. And he said that he used to get takeout all the time.

So, he's obviously talking about Chinese food. What does he mean by takeout?

Well, takeout is the opposite of sitting down in a restaurant and eating food. Takeout is what you do when you want to go home and eat it.

So in many restaurants, you can order the food and then you go and you pick up the food and you bring it home.

Okay, so that's takeout.

So, um, so it's a noun. You get takeout.

Right, but it's a little bit different from a different kind of takeout. There's takeout where you order the food and you pick it up and you bring it home. But there's also delivery and delivery is when you order the food and someone else brings it to you.

So, be careful with those two.

All right, very good.

And uh, moving forward, And moving forward, Manny kept talking about the food and said, "Wow, everything on the menu looks so appetizing." It all looks so appetizing.

Okay, appetizing is a way to describe something. In this case, we're describing food. So that's normally how we use the word appetizing.

So appetizing basically means that you're excited about eating this food because it looks like it will be good.

So, what about the word appetizer? Does this have anything to do with it?

I think appetizer is something that makes you want to eat more. That's why it's at the beginning of a meal. You have your appetizer before you have your main course.

Uh, but the word appetizing means that, you know, it's very appealing, you really want to eat it. It looks good. It looks delicious.

Okay, very good.

And Andrea was worried because Manny is ordering is ordering so much food. She asks, "Aren't you supposed to be on a diet?"

Okay, so this is a phrase, and I I want to remind everyone to keep this phrase in mind. You can, um, you can diet, which is a verb, but in this case you're on a diet, so it's a noun.

I'm on a diet. I'm trying to eat healthily. I'm trying to watch the things that I put in my body.

So, usually if you're on a diet, you don't eat really greasy, fatty Chinese, takeout Chinese food.

You eat salads and soups.

Okay. So you are on a diet.

Yes, he's on a diet or I was on a diet, but I stopped.

All right, a lot of great appealing food. Why don't we go and listen to our dialogue again, and we'll be back with language takeaway part two, where we're going to take a look at the specific American Chinese dishes.

Uh, Coke for me, please.

I'll have a Sprite.

Okay, I'll go get that for you. Are there any questions with the menu?

Do you use MSG?

No, ma'am. We are MSG free.

I think I'm going to get the sesame chicken with fried rice, a spring roll and egg drop soup.

I think I'll get General Tso's chicken, hot and sour soup, fried wontons and white rice.

Aren't you supposed to be on a diet? You should at least get brown rice.

I might even get an order of broccoli beef.

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at those delicious American Chinese dishes on language takeaway part two.

Language Takeaway

And so here we are with a number of delicious and very appetizing dishes. These are things that you'll normally find in an American Chinese restaurant. The first one is called Crab Rangoon.

Okay, so this doesn't sound very Chinese at all.

Now Rangoon is actually a city in a country called Myanmar or Burma.

And Crab Rangoon is a special deep-fried dish.

That's like, it's like deep-fried dumplings, but on the inside, there's cream cheese and crab.

Uh-huh, crab meat.

That's right.

All right, so it's kind of, as you said, like a dumpling, but inside you have cream cheese and crab.

Right.

All right, very good.

Now, they also talked about getting the sesame chicken with fried rice.

Okay, so sesame is a very common ingredient in cultures all over the world, and sesame is a kind of seed.

But some people also use some sesame oil in their cooking. And so these all come from these white, small seeds.

And sesame chicken is a kind of chicken that's cooked with sesame seeds.

Okay, very good.

And uh, obviously we know what fried rice is, you just take, it's just basically rice in a pan with sometimes a little bit of meat and egg and just fry it all together.

Um, but what about spring rolls? I think these are one of the typical Chinese dishes that everyone knows. And actually it's also it's a Chinese dish as well.

Uh, this the spring rolls we're talking about here are are basically wrappers, these like wonton wrappers, that are stuffed with meat and vegetables, and they're they're rolled up so they look like a long roll and they're deep-fried.

So, okay, so spring rolls are, um, as you said, little rolls with meat and sometimes vegetable inside.

Uh, not really sure why they call it spring roll, though.

I don't know either. Maybe it has to do with the ingredients, like they're vegetables from the spring.

Maybe.

So it looks like it's kind of got these yellow pieces floating, but it's a really nice simple soup with egg.

Okay, and that's what it's called, egg drop soup.

Now, you mentioned the wonton wrappers, and they also mentioned fried wontons. What are wontons?

Okay, wontons are also known as húndùn in mainland China, but this is this is a special kind of dumpling.

It's got a piece of dough, basically, that's flattened out, and inside there's meat, maybe some vegetables.

And sometimes you eat it in soup, but here we're talking about fried wontons, deep-fried wontons.

So you put them in the deep fryer, and they're fried so that they're crunchy in the inside's are soft.

Yes.

So maybe we should listen to our dialogue again.

Uh, Coke for me, please.

I'll have a Sprite.

Okay, I'll go get that for you. Are there any questions with the menu?

Do you use MSG?

No, ma'am. We are MSG free.

I think I'm going to get the sesame chicken with fried rice, a spring roll and egg drop soup.

I think I'll get General Tso's chicken, hot and sour soup, fried wontons and white rice.

Aren't you supposed to be on a diet? You should at least get brown rice.

I might even get an order of broccoli beef.

All right, we're back. So, as we mentioned, these dishes are very much they have a certain American influence to them. And they're not really spicy. I think that's the main difference as well that American Chinese food doesn't really have the intense garlic flavor nor is it spicy like usual Chinese food.

That's right. So I think that part of that is is like I said, due to the fact that a lot of the Chinese Americans who first came over came from Hong Kong, and so Hong Kong food is not as famous for its spiciness. It's not like Sichuan food.

Um, you will see a lot of sweet sauces, like this General Tso's chicken is like a very, very sweet sauce. You also see a lot of soy sauce in American Chinese cooking. And so, these are flavors that are very, very strong and they're not the same as the Chinese peppers and and these spicy foods you get in China.

That's right. And actually there's one more dish that we didn't mention in the dialogue actually, but is very famous all around the United States. It's called Chop Suey.

Chop Suey, and many people have have argued about where the name comes from. But Chop Suey is just basically like everything chopped up and fried together, right?

It's like stir-fried vegetables and meat. And all put together in in in just a bowl.

And then at the end, you also get a fortune cookie, which is a very small cookie, and inside there's a piece of paper. So don't eat the paper.

And the paper has a fortune for you. It says, you know, you will be very lucky today, or your your favorite number is 17. And they're very cute.

Actually, you can see these boxes that that Catherine mentions on our lesson page. It's the lesson photo. And it's, as you said, very, very common. Each dish is put in this little box, so if you ever get Chinese food, you'll see people carrying these little boxes around because they're very convenient and easy to carry.

Um, but the fortune cookie thing is also very common. I was actually very surprised when I went to China and there were no fortune cookies.

It's weird, isn't it? I think it's it's funny because we expect these things to be very Chinese, but in fact, when you come to mainland China, they don't have fortune cookies.

So I think it's it's a nice surprise, but also kind of confusing.

That's right. Well, a very interesting topic. And in the future, we're going to continue doing different lessons about different cuisines. We have Italian food coming up sometime soon.

So that's going to be very good as well. And of course, if you have any lesson suggestions or maybe you want to suggest the cuisine from your country, you can visit our website englishpod.com and leave your comments there.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A very strong desire for something.

Craving.

Attractive.

Tempting.

A medicine or treatment.

Remedy.

Food that is sold by a store to be eaten elsewhere.

Take out.

Delicious.

Appetizing.

Let's try that faster.

Delicious.

Appetizing.

Food that is sold by a store to be eaten elsewhere.

Take out.

A very strong desire for something.

Craving.

A medicine or treatment.

Remedy.

Attractive.

Tempting.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Tempting.

The apple is so big and red. It's so tempting to take a bite.

Tempting.

The food looks so good. It's tempting to eat it all.

Tempting.

Craving.

I've been craving Mexican food ever since I came to China.

Craving.

He quit smoking two days ago, so he's been craving a cigarette.

Craving.

I'm craving something sweet right now.

Take out.

Whenever I'm too tired, I get takeout and watch a movie at home.

Take out.

If you don't have time to sit in the restaurant, you can get takeout.

Take out.

Even though takeout is really convenient, it's better if you eat the food fresh.

Remedy.

Remedy.

A Bloody Mary is the best remedy for a hangover.

Remedy.

An ice pack would be the best remedy for your black eye.

Appetizing.

Everything on the menu looks so appetizing.

Appetizing.

I searched the menu, but couldn't find anything that looked remotely appetizing.

Appetizing.