In this free lesson, I will teach you how to say common vegetables in Chinese food. Those are the most common vegetables you will see in Chinese food. And you check out the video linked in the end to learn how to speak vegetables vocabulary in Chinese.
“菜” means vegetable. In China, we normally categorize Chinese home-style cooking foods as staple food, soup, and “菜”. So “菜” including meat, vegetables, mushrooms, etc. And “蔬菜 [shū cài]” is the standard way to say vegetables in Chinese.
Vegetables vocabulary
- 白菜 (bái cài) – Chinese cabbage
- 包菜 (bāo cài)/ 圆白菜(yuán bái cài) – Cabbage
- 紫甘蓝(zǐ gān lán) – Red cabbage
- 空心菜(kōng xīn cài) – mater convolvulus
- 菜花(cài huā) / 花菜(huā cài) – cauliflower
- 生菜(shēng cài)- lettuce
- 芹菜(qín cài)- celery
- 韭菜(jiǔ cài)- Chinese chive
- 香菜(xiāng cài) – parsley
- 空心菜(kōng xīn cài)- mater convolvulus
- 西兰花(xī lán huā)- broccoli
- 番茄(fān qié)/ 西红柿(xī hóng shì) – tomato
- 马铃薯(mǎ líng shǔ)/ 土豆(tǔ dòu) – potato
- 茄子(qié zi) – eggplant
- 秋葵(qiū kuí) – okra
- 玉米(yù mǐ) – corn
- 瓜(guā) – melon/guard
- 冬瓜(dōng guā) – wax gourd
- 丝瓜(sī guā) – angled luffa
- 南瓜(nán guā) – Pumpkin
- 西葫芦(xī hú lú)/南瓜(nán guā) – Cucurbita pepo
- 黄瓜(huáng guā) – cucumber
- 葫芦(hú lú) – Gourd
- 山药(shān yào) – Chinese yam
- 胡萝卜(hú luó bo) – carrot
- 白萝卜(bái luó bo) – ternip
- 黄豆(huáng dòu) – Soybean
- 绿豆(lǜ dòu) – mung bean
- 蚕豆(cán dòu)- broad bean
- 荷兰豆(hé lán dòu) – snow peas
- 芽(yá) – sprout
- 黄豆芽(huáng dòu yá) – soybean sprout
- 绿豆芽(lǜ dòu yá) – mung bean sprout
- 黑木耳(hēi mù ě) – black fungus
- 白木耳(bái mù ěr) – white fungus
- 菇(gū)- mushrooms
- 香菇(xiāng gū) – mushrooms
- 金针菇(jīn zhēn gū) – needle mushroom
- 葱(cōng) – scallion
- 大葱(dà cōng) – scallion/green onion
- 小葱(xiǎo cōng) – shallot
- 洋葱(yáng cōng) – onion
- 姜(jiāng)- ginger
- 蒜(suàn)- garlic
- 蒜苗(suàn miáo) – garlic sprout
- 胡椒(hú jiāo) – pepper
- 辣椒(là jiāo) – chili
- 青椒(qīng jiāo) – green pepper
- 红青椒(hóng qīng jiāo) – red pepper 青菜(qīng cài)
As you can see, we still will use colors to say vegetables, like 白菜, 黄瓜, 青椒, 红青椒, 紫甘蓝, 绿豆, 黑木耳, etc. So the colors vocabulary is very important for beginners to learn Chinese vocabulary.
