Lesson 078 Restaurants (2) 第七十八课 餐厅（2）

YJ: Perfect Chinese your way, in only five minutes a day, welcome to Chinese Studio,  wo shi Yajie.

Cam:  wo shi Cam. Yajie, yesterday we learned how a waiter or waitress asks us what we want to eat or drink... now it's time to fill our stomachs!

YJ: As you know, there are a variety of wonderful Chinese dishes. And we are going to learn what they are, and how to order them over the next few days on Chinese Studio. 

Cam: Perfect!

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Key Words of the Day

Spicy Chicken 辣子鸡(la4zi ji1)；panfried tomato and eggs 西红柿炒鸡蛋 （xi1hong2shi4 chao3 ji1dan4）；Rice, 米饭(mi3fan4)； noodles 面条(mian4tiao2)。All in today's Chinese Studio.

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YJ: So Cam, what do you like to eat?

Cam: Yajie, the question should be what DON'T I like to eat... I'll eat anything.Especially delicious Chinese food! 

YJ: Ok, then as a girl from Sichuan, I strongly recommend you to try辣子鸡(la4zi ji1).

Cam: 辣子鸡(la4zi ji1)?

YJ: Very good. It’s spicy chicken, one typical dish in Sichuan cuisine。 As you know, Sichuan food is characterized by hot, pungent, and salty flavors.

Cam: I see. So…does 辣子(la4zi) mean pepper in Chinese?

YJ: Yes. 辣子(la4zi) is the informal name of pepper. 辣子(la4zi) is a little bit easier to pronounce.  

Cam: 辣子(la4zi), pepper. And 鸡(ji1) means chicken. Right?

YJ: Right. 鸡(ji1), ji the first tone. Chicken. 

Cam: 辣子鸡(la4zi ji1), spicy chicken.

YJ: Very good!

Conversation 1:

Cam: I'd like to have some vegetables too. Because my muma always told me to eat vegetables. What about panfried tomatoes and eggs?

YJ: It's also one of my favorites. In Chinese it's 西红柿炒鸡蛋 （xi1hong2shi4 chao3 ji1dan4）.

Cam: 西红柿炒鸡蛋 （xi1hong2shi4 chao3 ji1dan4）.

YJ: Yes. 西红柿（xi1hong2shi4） means tomato, we learned this word before.

Cam:  西红柿（xi1hong2shi4）.

YJ: And鸡蛋 (ji1dan4) means egg. 

Cam: 鸡蛋 (ji1dan4). I eat 鸡蛋 (ji1dan4) almost every morning.  

YJ: Good for you.炒(chao3) means stir-fry or pan fry.

Cam: 炒(chao3), c-h-a-o, the third tone, right?

YJ: Yes. Together it’s 西红柿炒鸡蛋 （xi1hong2shi4 chao3 ji1dan4）.

Cam: 西红柿炒鸡蛋（xi1hong2shi4 chao3 ji1dan4）. Yajie, I see that when someone says “he/she has been炒鱿鱼(chao3 you2yu2)”, they seem to be sad. Does that phrase have some special meaning?  (chao youyu). 

YJ: Well, literally it means stir-fry squid. But it can also mean “sack someone or fire somebody”.

Cam: I see. I don’t want to be 炒鱿鱼(chao3 you2yu2). 

YJ: Nobody wants to be 炒鱿鱼(chao3 you2yu2).

Conversation 2:

Cam: So Yajie, could you please introduce to me some main courses that Chinese people usually eat? I want to give them a try.

YJ: No problem. How about rice or noodles? Rice is 米饭(mi3fan4). 米, m-i, the third tone; and 饭, f-a-n, the fourth tone. Cam: 米饭(mi3fan4).

YJ: And noodles are面条(mian4tiao2) . 

Cam: 面条(mian4tiao2).

YJ: 米饭(mi3fan4), rice. 

Cam: 米饭(mi3fan4).

YJ: And 面条(mian4tiao2), noodles. 

Cam: 面条(mian4tiao2).

Conversation 3:

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Key Words Reminder:

Spicy Chicken 辣子鸡(la4zi ji1)； panfried tomato and eggs 西红柿炒鸡蛋 （xi1hong2shi4 chao3 ji1dan4）；Rice, 米饭(mi3fan4);noodles 面条(mian4tiao2)。

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YJ: So that's just start. Now you'll be able to order a few things.

Cam: Yeah, but we will learn more famous Chinese dishes tomorrow. So now our question of the day: how do you say "rice and noodles" in Chinese? We will see you tomorrow!

YJ: Mingtianjian.