­　　The following dishes, labeled Chinese food, are very popular in some western Chinese restaurants, but ask anyone in China and you’ll get a blank look, unless they’ve studied or worked outside the country.

­　　下面这些“中餐”是一些西方中餐馆里人们常点的菜，但是如果你问任何一个中国人，除非他们曾经在国外学习或工作过，不然他们肯定不知道你在说什么。

­　　Beef and broccoli

­　　1、牛肉炒西兰花。

­　　Chinese eat beef, Chinese eat broccoli, but they never eat beef and broccoli together. On the other hand, we love fried broccoli -- just the flowering green vegetable fried in soybean oil, sometimes with an added hit of chili. As for beef, we Chinese would prefer it stewed with potatoes or tomatoes.

­　　中国人吃牛肉，中国人也吃西兰花，但是他们绝对不会把牛肉和西兰花放在一起炒。另一方面，我们喜欢油炸西兰花——在大豆油中炸这种开花的绿色蔬菜，有时还加上一些辣椒（哪里的吃法？）。至于牛肉，我们中国人喜欢和西红柿和土豆一起炖。

­　　General Tso’s chicken

­　　2、左宗棠鸡。

­　　Whenever non-Chinese try to discuss Chinese cuisine, they can’t avoid this dish. General Tso’s chicken is beloved by many of our western friends, but it really has nothing to do with Chinese food. By "Chinese food" here, I mean the food popular at least in one part of China. After all, it’s often difficult for a food to be loved across China thanks to its vast land and food variety.

­　　每当外国人试图谈论中国菜时，他们就不得不提到这道菜。许多西方人都非常喜欢左宗棠鸡这道菜，但是它和中餐真的没有半毛钱的关系。这里的“中餐”，我指的是至少在中国某个地方很受欢迎的食物。毕竟，由于中国地大物博、菜肴品种众多，很难有一道菜被全国人都喜欢。

­　　The sweet chicken dish’s origins have been frequently discussed online and I won’t bother to detail it here. What I can assure you is that natives in Hunan, General Tso’s hometown, have never heard of and will never be interested in this so-called Hunan dish.

­　　这道甜甜的鸡肉菜肴的起源已经在网上被讨论多次了，这里我就不必再赘述。但是我可以向你保证，在左宗棠的故乡湖南，不会有本地人听说过或者喜欢道所谓的湖南菜。

­　　Chop suey

­　　3、炒杂碎。

­　　I think the first non-Chinese who served this dish may have been fooled by his or her chef. The chef in the Chinese restaurant may just scramble to put the leftover bits and pieces in kitchen together when someone had ordered a dish the chef knew nothing about.

­　　我认为第一个点这道菜的外国人可能被厨师耍了。当有人点了一道厨师没有听过的菜时，中餐馆里的大厨就把厨房里的剩菜剩饭全都一股脑儿来了个大杂烩。

­　　Or maybe we can say, the chef really knew something. We Chinese do have our kind of mixture cooking -- people in northeastern China often stew pork, potato, eggplant and corn together. The point about the dish is to stew them. Besides, we never put eggs into it.

­　　或者也许我们可以说，这个厨师真的有两把刷子。我们中国人的确有这种乱炖——东北人经常把猪肉、土地、茄子和玉米放在一起炖。这道菜的要点是炖。另外，我们绝不在里面放鸡蛋。

­　　Crab wontons

­　　4、蟹肉馄饨。

­　　We have our version of crab wontons, which are completely different from your deep-fried dumplings filled with crabmeat and cream cheese. Ours are not fried, but steamed. Our fillings include pork and crab. And most importantly, without cheese in it, but a rich savory broth that oozes out at the first bite. It’s a Shanghai food I would recommend.

­　　中国的确有蟹肉馄饨，但是却和你们那种包着蟹肉和奶油芝士再油炸的那种东西完全不一样。我们的蟹肉馄饨不是油炸的，是蒸的。馄饨里的馅料有猪肉和蟹肉。最重要的是，里面绝不包奶酪，咬第一口时会渗出许多美味的肉汁。这是我推荐的一道上海菜。

­　　Egg rolls

­　　5、鸡蛋卷。

­　　Egg rolls are thick, deep-fried rolls of dough filled with meat and vegetables. Even for our Chinese people, they are too greasy. Similarly, we have spring rolls, and just as its name implies, they should be eaten now, in the spring time. Spring vegetables like bean sprouts and Chinese chives can be put in thin dough rolls (not fried ones). Sliced carrots and chopped omelets can also be added as fillings.

­　　鸡蛋卷是用面皮包着肉和蔬菜，裹成厚卷，然后油炸而成。但是即使对中国人来说，这道菜也太油腻了。类似的，我们有春卷，而正如这道菜的名字所暗示的那样，应该在春天吃。用薄面皮把豆芽菜和韭菜等春天的时令蔬菜卷起来（不是油炸的）。切片的胡萝卜和剁碎的煎鸡蛋也可以作为馅料。

­　　Fortune cookies

­　　6、幸运甜饼。

­　　Chinese surely have a faith in something fortuitous, like the number eight, which sounds like "wealthy" in Chinese. But nothing like fortune cookies. In fact, we often have fruits for dessert, such as slices of watermelons and oranges, cherry tomatoes, among others.

­　　中国人当然会迷信一些东西，例如数字8，因为“8”在中文里和“发”谐音。但是却没有像幸运饼干这样的东西。事实上，我们经常把水果当甜点，例如西瓜、橘子、圣女果和其他水果等。