Mandarin Monday: Test Your Chinglish Ability With the "Hot Pot" Rap Song

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.

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":

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

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

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

BONUS:
Want even more hot pot vocab? Check out the following ingredients:

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

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

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

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:

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