Test Your Chinglish Ability With the "Hot Pot" Rap Song
Source: https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog
Pop quiz, expats of China: You may be an "old hand" when it comes to local customs and ordering food, but do you really know China? See if you can follow along with the English/Chinese pop song "Hot Pot":
It's got the lajiao and the huajiao too,
the haoyou, suanxiang, and the cu
Put in some dongua xiajiao, some yuelan pian,
A little zhu ... zhusuan
xiang dofu with a few mogu
hen hao chi when I eat with you
First attaining prominence in January of last year, the kitschy song (video here) caught the attention of Chinese media as a cross-cultural love letter to the famous spicy table-top cooked meal in a bowl.
Recorded during supper time at various Chengdu restaurants, the music video ebullently lists all of the favorite hot pot ingredients enjoyed by its singer, an American expat named Ramon.
"Hot pot is my favorite food, so there was no way that I couldn't
write a song expressing my love for it," said the 12-year Chengdu
dweller who admits he eats hot pot at least twice a week. "I want to
introduce Chengdu hotpot to the world, and have more people become
familiar with the city of Chengdu."
But while Ramon isn't the first expat to cater to the sensibilities of a Chinese audience, his decision to sing half in English and half in Chinese was a bit jarring to some locals. But, for us Chinese learners, lyrics like "A little yangrou for my kuaizi" shouldn't be too difficult to overcome with a little vocabulary study.
Opposite Chinglish: 用chopsticks夹起一点mutton
Want to learn how to order hot pot in Chinese? Curious to match your Chinese expertise to this Chengdu native? With these following words, you too can follow along to the bi-lingual song, "Hot Pot":
HOT POT
Chinese: 辣椒 Pinyin: làjiāo Meaning: hot pepper
Chinese: 花椒 Pinyin: huājiāo Meaning: Sichuan peppercorns
Chinese: 蚝油 Pinyin: háoyóu Meaning: oyster sauce
Chinese: 蒜香 Pinyin: suànxiāng
Meaning: garlic, usually 大蒜 (dàsuàn); more commonly used in full dishes, like garlic ribs i.e. 蒜香骨 (suànxiāng gǔ)
Chinese: 醋Pinyin: cù Meaning: vinegar
The "what-what" and the "whachama-call-it"?
HOT POT
Chinese: 冬瓜 Pinyin: dōngguā; Meaning: winter melon
Chinese: 虾饺; Pinyin: xiājiǎo; Meaning: shrimp dumpling
Chinese: 玉兰片; Pinyin: yùlán piān;
Meaning: dried slices of tender bamboo shoots
Chinese: 竹笋 Pinyin: zhúsǔn Meaning: bamboo shoots
Chinese: 香豆腐 Pinyin: xiāng dòufǔ Meaning: sweet tofu
Some of the lyrics probably don't require any translation at all
HOT POT
Chinese: 小蘑菇
Pinyin: xiǎo mógū
Meaning: little mushrooms
Chinese: 青笋
Pinyin: qīng sǔn
Meaning: green shoots, could refer to asparagus or bamboo
Chinese: 毛肚
Pinyin: máo dǔ
Meaning: beef tripe
Chinese: 豆腐皮
Pinyin: dòufǔ pí
Meaning: tofu skins
Chinese: 羊肉
Pinyin: yángròu
Meaning: mutton
Chinese: 美国肥牛
Pinyin: měiguó féiniú
Meaning: fatty US beef
"Hot Pot" also displays some R+B influences
BONUS: Want even more hot pot vocab? Check out the following ingredients:
HOT POT
Chinese: 鱼丸
Pinyin: yú wán
Meaning: fishball
Chinese: 鸭血
Pinyin: yā xiě
Meaning: duck blood
Chinese: 海带丝
Pinyin: hǎi dài sī
Meaning: shredded kelp
AH YISS
HOT POT
土豆
Pinyin: tǔ dòu
Meaning: potato
Chinese: 藕片
Pinyin: ǒu piān
Meaning: lotus root
Chinese: 粉皮
Pinyin: fěn pí
Meaning: sheet jelly made from bean or sweet potato starch
Chinese: 虾滑
Pinyin: xiāhuá
Meaning: shrimp paste
Chinese: 豆瓣 or 西洋菜
Pinyin: dòubàn or xīyángcài
Meaning: watercress
Chinese: 苋菜
Pinyin: xiàn cài
Meaning: Chinese spinach (ong choy, or water morning glory)
Chinese: 油菜
Pinyin: yóucài
Meaning: rapeseed vegetable
Synchronized dancing at the table too
HOT POT
Chinese: 青菜
Pinyin: qīngcài
Meaning: Napa cabbage
Chinese: 小白菜
Pinyin: xiǎo báicài
Meaning: baby bok choy
Chinese: 香菇
Pinyin: xiāng gū
Meaning: shiitake mushroom
Chinese: 金针菇
Meaning: enoki mushroom
Pinyin: jīn zhēn gū
Even though he's not rapping about ho's or dissing other people, Ramon's lyrics are nonetheless still very salty
HOT POT
Chinese: 芝麻
Pinyin: zhī ma
Meaning: sesame (for sauces like 麻将 májiàng)
Chinese: 生姜
Pinyin: shēngjiāng
Meaning: ginger
Chinese: 葱
Pinyin: cōng
Meaning: scallion
For his part, Ramon says Chinese culture has all but taken over his seasonal celebrations. "I've already bought many hot pot ingredients, so for this year's new year dinner, we'll be eating hot pot," he said.
As the Chinese headlines proclaim, Ramon's song is proof that Chinese hot pot has "taken over the world." The only thing remaining to do is to provide the final touch and write out this song in its proper hip-hop title: "Hawt Potz."
Check out the video below:
https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=p0368yon5wq&width=500&height=375&auto=0
Video Source: https://v.qq.com/x/page/p0368yon5wq.html
Sadly, we've yet to pin down Ramon for a rendition of his "Hot Pot" at our Hot & Spicy Festival on Apr 14-15 at Galaxy Soho but there'll be plenty of other spicy performances as well as plenty of the ingredients above present at the two-day event. For more information and tickets, click here.
More stories from this author here.
E-Mail: charlesliu1 (at) qq (dot) com
Twitter: @Sinopath
Images: Youku
Source: https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog
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