Street Menu for Nian Gao

Hi everyone,

I’m super sorry that I’ve been lacking in the blog updates. I actually have so many ideas for a big blog post but I haven’t figured out how to organize my thoughts. However, something that I’ve been wanting to add to my blog is a section on mini-Chinese lessons.

What I wanted to show you is a menu for 年糕 or “nian-gao” which are basically steamed glutinous mini rice cakes. They have become one of my favorite Chinese dishes.

Here are some pictures of Nian Gao. 😀

Interested in trying it in China? Well one place to find it is on the street from food vendors. Here’s an example of a street menu for nian gao. I’m going to break it down and translate it.

So the title up there shows “炒年糕, 炒河粉“, (pinyin: chǎoniángāo, héfěn) pronounced “chow knee-anne gow, chow huh fun”. This means “stir-fried nian gao, stir-fried rice noodles.” At this stand, nian gao and rice noodles are mixed together with different ingredients.

Next to each menu, you’ll see a price of 5-6 yuan (元). I’ll go through each item one by one.

素菜年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: sùcàiniángāo, héfěn) – Pronounced “Sue-tsai knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “vegetarian nian gao and rice noodles.”

鸡蛋年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: jīdànniángāo, héfěn) – Pronounced “Gee-dan knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “chicken egg nian gao and rice noodles.”

红肠年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: hóngchángniángāo, héfěn) – Pronounced “hong-chong knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “saveloy (sausage) nian gao and rice noodles.”

番茄年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: fānqié niángāo, héfěn) – Pronounced “fan chee-eh knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “tomato nian gao and rice noodles.”

香肠年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: xiāngchángniángāo, héfěn) – Pronounced “shee-ah-gung chong knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “sausage nian gao and rice noodles.”

鸡丁年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: jīdīngniángāo, héfěn) – Pronounced “gee-ding knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “chicken meat nian gao and rice noodles.”

肉丝年糕, 河粉 (Pinyin: ròusīniángāo, héfěn) Pronounced “row-suh knee-anne gow huh fun” meaning, “shredded pork nian gao and rice noodles.”

I am hoping that this section of my blog can give my readers a bit of background on types of food and readings that travelers should know about. I hope you enjoy. 🙂