中餐菜谱不容易翻译，原因是中国人的饮食文化比较发达，对菜名特别讲究。菜单翻译的核心内容是菜用什么原料做成，因为外国人在餐桌上最关心的是吃什么东西。其次要讲清楚的是菜的用料，刀法和烹调方法。由此可见，要译好菜谱，就必须知道一些主要的用料，刀法，烹调方法及某些准备步骤。

一、中餐常用食材原料

鸡 chicken

鸭 duck

鹅 goose

鱼类 fish

肉类 meat

猪肉 pork

牛肉 beef

小牛肉 veal

羊肉 mutton

小羊肉 lamb

牛尾 oxtail

里脊 fillet

排骨 spareribs

腰子 kidney

肚子 tripe

肝 liver

舌 tongue

下水 offals

蹄子 trotter

胗 gizzard

鸡什 giblets

鹿肉 venison

鸡脯 chicken breast

甲鱼 turtle

海味 seafood

虾 shrimp

干贝 scallop

螃蟹 crab

鱿鱼 squid

海蛰 jellyfish

黄鳝 finless eel

海螺 whelk

野味 game

兔 rabbit

鸽 pigeon

鹌鹑 quail

龙虾 lobster

牡蛎 oyster

田螺 snail

田鸡 frog

蛇 snake

腌肉 bacon

香肠 sausage

火腿 ham

熊掌 bear’s paw

鱼翅 shark’s fin

燕窝 bird’s nest

二、中餐烹饪前的准备工作

去骨 boning (去骨鸭掌 boned duck webs)

打鳞 scaling (去鳞鱼 scaled fish)

剥/去皮 skinning (去皮田鸡 skinned frogs)

脱壳 shelling (虾仁 shelled shrimps)

腌制 pickling (咸酸菜 pickled vegetables)

三、中餐烹饪常用刀法及用料形状

1. 常用刀法

切片 slice

切丝 shred

切丁 dice

切柳 fillet

切碎 mince

捣烂 mash

酿入 stuff

2. 常用用料形状

肉/ 鱼片sliced meat / fish 或 meat / fish slices

肉丝 shredded meat 或 pork shreds

肉/鸡丁 diced pork / chicken 或meat / chicken cubes

肉末 minced meat

肉丸 meat balls

肉馅 meat filling

四、中餐菜单常用翻译方法

1. 直译法。英译时把对应的制作方法译出来，再以该菜的主要原料为中心词。

炖牛肉 Stewed Beef

2. 直译加注法。英译时直接按中文菜名译出其意，然后再补充说明其内在含义。

狮子头 Lion’s Head - Pork Meat Balls

全家福 Happy Family - A combination of shrimps, pork, beef, chicken, lobster and mixed vegetables with brown sauce

3. 意译法。此法可分为三种情况：

(1) 原料+with+作料。以原料为中心词，有时捎带把烹调法也译出，再加上用介词with 或in 与作料构成的短语即可。

海米白菜 Chinese Cabbage with Dried Shrimps

鱼香肉丝 Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce

(2)作料+原料 。即把作料用作修饰语，放在中心词原料的前面。

咖喱牛肉 Curry Beef

古老肉 Sweet & Sour Pork

(3)以“实”对“虚”。即舍去中菜名里的喻义，夸张等说法而用平直，明白地英语译出。

发财好市 Black Moss Cooked with Oysters

彩凤喜迎春 Baked Chicken and Fried Quail Eggs

蚂蚁上树 Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork

龙虎凤大烩 Thick Soup of Snake, Cat and Chicken

4. “移花接木”法。借用西方人熟悉并了解的欧洲菜名或主食名来译部分中菜名与少数主食，因为它们之间有许多相似之处。译文地道，通俗易懂，能 收到事半功倍的效果。

烤排骨 Barbecued Spare Ribs

饺子 Chinese-style Ravioli

5. 音译加释义法。先按中文用拼音译出，然后再加以解释性的英译，使英译文保留点“中国味”。

包子 Baozi - Stuffed Bun

馒头 Mantou - Steamed Bread

6. “随机应变”法：原料+地名+Style。应用此法可以灵活地处理一些难以对付的地方风味特色菜名。英译出原料名后，再稍加“点拨”就可以大功告成。

广东龙虾 Lobster Cantonese Style

麻婆豆腐 Bean Curd Sichuan Style

五、中餐常见烹调方法

中菜的烹调方法至少有50多种，但大体不离：煮 (boiling)，煲/炖 (stewing)，烧/焖/烩(braising)，煎(frying)，炒(stir-frying)，爆(quick-frying)，炸(deep-frying)，扒(frying and simmering)，煸(sauteing)，煨 (simmering)，熏(smoking)，烤(roasting/barbecuing)，烘(baking)，蒸(steaming)，白灼(scalding)等基本方法。

煮 boiled( 煮咸牛肉 Boiled Corned Beef)

煲/炖 stewed (清炖牛尾 Stewed Ox Tail in Clear Soup)

烧 braised (红烧牛蹄 Braised Ox Trotters in Brown Sauce)

煎 (pan-) fried (煎明虾 Fried Prawns)

炒 stir-fried (炒鸡丁 Stir-Fried Chicken Dices)

爆 quick-fried (葱爆羊肉 Quick-fried lamb with Scallion in Ginger Sauce)

炸 deep-fried (炸大虾 Deep-fried prawns)

扒fried and simmered (虾子扒海参 Fried and Simmered Sea Cucumber with Shrimps Roe)

煸sauted .(干煸鳝鱼 Sauted Eel Slices)

煨simmered.(煨牛肉 Simmered Beef)

焖 braised (黄酒焖猪排 Braised pork chops in rice wine)

烩 braised (烩鸡丝 Braised chicken shreds with peas)

熏 smoked (熏鱼 Smoked Fish)

烘 baked (烘鸽 Baked Pigeon)

蒸 steamed (蒸鲜鱼 Steamed Fresh Fish)

酱/醋 marinated (酱鸡 Marinated Chicken)

卤 spicy; stewed in gravy (卤鸭 Spicy Duck)

涮 instant-boiled (涮羊肉 Instant-Boiled Mutton Slices)

酿 stuffed (酿青椒 Stuffed Green Pepper)

烤 roast; barbecued (烤鹅 Roast Goose)

清蒸 steamed (in clear soup) (清蒸桂鱼 Steamed Mandarin Fish)

清炖 stewed in clear soup (清炖甲鱼 Stewed Turtle in Clear Soup)

白灼/微煮 scalded (白灼海虾 Scalded Prawns)

红烧 braised in brown sauce (红烧蹄筋 Braised Pork Tendon in Brown Sauce)

干烧 in pepper sauce (干烧干贝 Scallop in Pepper Sauce)

麻辣 with hot pepper (麻辣豆腐 Bean Curd with Hot Pepper / Spice Bean Curd)

酱爆 in bean sauce (酱爆肉丁 Diced Pork in Bean Sauce)

鱼香 in (spicy) garlic sauce (鱼香肉丝 Shredded Pork in Garlic Sauce)

糖醋 with sweet and sour sauce (糖醋排骨 Spareribs with Sweet and Sour Sauce)

宫保 with chili and peanuts (宫保鸡丁 Diced Chicken with Chili and Peanuts)

脆皮 crisp (in spicy sauce) (脆皮鱼 Crisp Fish)

香酥 crisp fried (香酥鸡 Crisp Fried Chicken)

焦熘fried in sauce (焦熘鱼片 Fried Fish Slices in Sauce)

甜酸 sweet and sour (甜酸肉 Sweet & Sour Pork)

胡辣 with pepper and chili (胡辣海参 Sea Slug with Pepper and Chili)

油淋 drip-fried with oil (油淋兔 Drip-Fried Rabbit with oil)

干煸 dry-sauteed (干煸季豆 Dry-sauteed String Beans)

盐水 boiled in salt water (盐水虾 Boiled Shrimps in Salt Water)

家常 home style (家常豆腐 Bean Curd Home Style)

陈皮 with spicy orange peel (陈皮鸡 Chicken in Spicy Orange Peel)

回锅 double-sauteed (回锅肉 Double-sauteed Pork Slices)

五香 spiced (五香牛肉 Spiced Beef)

干炸 dry deep-fried (干炸羊肉 Dry Deep-fried Lamb Breast)

软炸 soft deep-fried (软炸里脊 Soft-fried Pork Fillet)

酥炸 crisp deep-fried (酥炸羊脯 Crisp Fried Lamb Breast)

串烤 skewered (串烤羊肉青椒 Skewered Mutton with Green Pepper)

铁扒 grilled (铁扒乳鸽 Grilled Baby Pigeon)

烧烤 roast (烤乳猪 Roast Suckling Pig)

砂锅 in casserole (砂锅鱼翅 Shark’s Fin in Casserole)

锅巴 with sizzling /crispy rice crust (锅巴海参 Sea Slug with Sizzling / Crispy Rice Crust)

芙蓉 with eggwhite (芙蓉海参 Sea Cucumbers with Eggwhite)

麻酱 with sesame paste (麻酱海参 Beche-de-mer with Sesame Paste)

三鲜 with two other delicacies (三鲜海参 Sea Cuucumbers with Other Two Delicacies)

醋溜 in distilled grains sauce (醋溜鸡片 Sliced Chicken in Didtilled Grains Sauce)

凉拌 in soy sauce (凉拌海蛰 Jellyfish in Soy Sauce)

酸辣 hot and sour (酸辣黄瓜 Hot and Sour Cucumber)

姜汁 in ginger sauce (姜汁扁豆 Snap Beans in Ginger Sauce)

蚝油 in oyster sauce (蚝油香菇 Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce)

蒜泥 with mashed garlic (蒜泥胡豆 Broad Beans with Mashed Garlic)

什锦 mixed; assorted (什锦丝冬粉 Assorted Shreds with Vermicelli)

茄汁 in tomato sauce (茄汁鸡脯 Chicken Breast in Tomato Sauce)

咖喱 with curry (咖喱牛肉 Fried Beef withy Curry)

八宝 (stuffed) with eight delicacies (八宝鸡 Chicken Stuffed with Eight Delicacies)

葱爆 quick-fried with scallion in ginger sauce (葱爆羊肉 Quick-fried Lamb with Scallion in Ginger Sauce)

粉蒸 steamed in rice flour (粉蒸牛肉 Steamed Beef in Rice Flour)

奶油 in cream sauce (奶油鱼肚 Fried Fish Maw in Cream Sauce)

木犀 with scrambled eggs and fungus (木犀肉 Fried Pork with Scrambled Eggs and Fungus)

醉 liquor-preserved (醉蟹 Liquor-preserved Crabs)

辣味 in chili sauce (辣味烩虾 Braised Prawns in Rice Wine)

豆豉 in black bean sauce (豆豉桂鱼 Mandarin Fish in Black Bean Sauce)

黄焖 braised in rice wine (黄焖大虾 Braised Prawns in Rice Wine)

椒盐 with pepper and salt (椒盐排骨 Spare Ribs with Pepper and Salt)

怪味 multi-flavored (怪味鸡 Multi-flavored Chicken)