回锅肉 huíguō ròu twice-cooked pork

Huiguorou is originally from Sichuan, but it's so popular you can order at almost any type of restaurant. It literally means "return-to-the-pot pork." It's pieces of pork belly, aka bacon, stir fried with chilies and spring onions.

番茄炒蛋 fānqié chǎodàn stir-fried tomato and egg

Fanqie chaodan is homestyle cooking. It doesn't even seem Chinese. It looks and tastes like scrambled eggs with tomato.

臭豆腐 chòudòufu stinky tofu

Stinky tofu is sold on the street, and when I got to Shanghai, I thought it was one of the worst smells I had ever smelled. It smells like acidic body odor. It took me about a year to work up the courage to actually eat some of it. It actually is not that bad, and now that I've eaten it, the smell no longer bothers me. It's not something that I crave, but I'll eat it if someone buys it. The smell comes from the fermentation of the tofu, which is then deep-fried and served with chili sauce or a nondescript brown sauce. When buying from a street vendor, they will typically ask you how stinky you want your tofu, to which you should reply, "Extra stinky!" Gag.

椒盐排条 jiāoyán páitiáo salt and pepper pork stips

Jiaoyan paitiao is a dish of pork strips seasoned with salt and pepper and deep fried. The pork is also usually cooked with onions and green bell peppers.

口水鸡 kǒushuǐ jī mouth-watering chicken

Koushui ji is a cold dish, so it is served at the beginning of the meal. It hails from Sichuan, I believe. It is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. Cold, yellow-skinned chicken is submerged in a spicy, oily sauce and garnished with peanuts and cilantro. Amazing!

炒面 chǎomiàn fried noodles

Chaomian is called chow mein in the U.S., where the dish is disgusting and dry. In China it is much more flavorful. I also get this dish from street vendors, who will ask you whether you want rice or noodles and then typically put the exact same meat, eggs, vegetables, and spices in both.

炒饭 chǎofàn fried rice

I never order fried rice at restaurants, but it's really good from Shanghai street vendors. A small town in China, Yangzhou, is particularly famous for its fried rice, which just seems to have a bunch of different vegetables and other ingredients in it. For ordering, it's just called yangzhou chaofan.

麻辣豆腐 málà dòufu numb and spicy tofu

Mala tofu or mapo tofu you can find in almost any Chinese restaurant. It's homestyle cooking, and you can even buy seasoning packets at regular grocery stores in the U.S. that just ask you to add tofu and ground pork. 麻 má means numb. It also means the sensation you get when your feet are asleep, or in British English - pins and needles. This spice I have never eaten outside of China, but I definitely craved it when I was in the states. The flavor comes from 花椒 huājiāo or flower pepper that comes from Sichuan. It is pictured below. It will make your whole mouth numb. This dish is fairly spicy. Mala tofu is also sometimes called 麻婆 mápó tofu. I cannot tell the difference between the two if there is one. Mapo means pock-marked, and supposedly comes from a pock-mark faced woman who used to serve the dish in Chengdu.

酸辣土豆丝 suānlà tǔdòusī hot and sour potato strips

Before I came to China, I didn't think potatoes were in any Chinese dishes. The Chinese actually do potatoes quite well, as seen in this dish and disanxian, which both come from the North. 

鱼香肉丝 yúxiāng ròusī fish-fragrant pork

Same sauce as the eggplant dish, yuxiang qiezi.

鱼香茄子 yúxiāng qiézi fish-fragrant eggplant

This dish gets its name because it is cooked in a sauce in which fish is usually cooked. It has a sweet and sour flavor. It has pieces of pork in it, so it's not vegetarian.

四季豆 sìjìdòu green beans

I believe this dish is more specifically called 干煸四季豆 gānbiān sìjìdòu, which means something like dry stir-fried green beans. It is usually cooked with 酸菜 suāncài - pickled chinese cabbage, garlic and dried chilies. 

宫保鸡丁 gōngbǎo jīdīng kung pao chicken

Just like the American-Chinese dish, kung pao chicken.

火爆大头菜 huǒbào dàtóucài hot cabbage

This dish is really good unless the kitchen overcooks it. If you're ordering it at a Hunan restaurant, it will be called 黑盘白菜 hēipán báicài black plate cabbabe, and usually comes out on a sizzling griddle à la fajitas.

饺子 jiǎozi dumplings

Originally, dumplings came from Dōngběi, but now they are widespread throughout China. It's lucky to eat them around Chinese New Year because they resemble the shape of yuánbǎo, which was China's currency during the Ming Dynasty. Eating them during Chinese New Year is supposed to bring prosperity and wealth. They are usually eaten with Zhenjiang vinegar, a dark brown vinegar, and sometimes chili sauce.