28 Chinese Vegetables and Their Mandarin Names (+ Recipe Ideas)

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From bok choy to cucumbers, plant foods are a staple of Chinese cooking.

Learning their names can make a market visit or restaurant menu much easier. This guide gives you 28 useful Mandarin terms, with simplified and traditional characters where they differ, plus a few dishes to look for.

Some entries here are vegetables in the everyday cooking sense rather than the botanical one. Peanuts and soybeans are legumes, papaya is a fruit and mushrooms are fungi, but you will still meet all of them in markets and dishes alongside vegetables.

开始吧/開始吧 (kāishǐ ba), let’s get started.

Chinese Vegetables: A Couple of Notes

Mandarin vocabulary varies by region. This is much like English having both “eggplant” and “aubergine”: two familiar words can name the same food. The entries below flag useful mainland China and Taiwan differences, but you may hear other local terms too.

The pinyin follows word boundaries, so the syllables in a single word are written together. Simplified characters come first where the two writing systems differ.

“Corn” – 玉米 (yùmǐ)

Corn appears in soups, hot pot and street snacks. 烤玉米 (kǎo yùmǐ) means grilled corn, usually corn on the cob.

“Tomato” – 西红柿/西紅柿 (xīhóngshì) or 番茄 (fānqié)

西红柿 is simplified and 西紅柿 is traditional; 番茄 is the same in both systems. Tomatoes were recorded in China by the late Ming period and are now common in everyday cooking.

One well-known home-style dish is 番茄炒蛋 (fānqié chǎodàn), tomato with scrambled eggs. The picture below shows a serving I had for lunch at a student cafeteria in China.

The name 西红柿/西紅柿 can be read literally as “Western red persimmon”. In 番茄, 番 historically marked something as foreign.

“Sweet potato” – 地瓜 (dìguā) or 番薯 (fānshǔ)

At a Taiwanese night market, look for 地瓜球 (dìguā qiú), crisp, chewy sweet-potato balls sold as a snack.

“Potato” – 马铃薯/馬鈴薯 (mǎlíngshǔ) or 土豆 (tǔdòu)

马铃薯/馬鈴薯 is widely understood. In mainland China, 土豆 usually means potato; in Taiwan, 土豆 commonly means peanut, so that word is worth treating as regional. French fries are 薯条/薯條 (shǔtiáo).

The spicy potato skewers below are seasoned with chilli.

“Cabbage” – 卷心菜 (juǎnxīncài) or 高麗菜 (gāolìcài)

卷心菜 is a common mainland term for head cabbage. In Taiwan, 高麗菜 is a familiar everyday name.

“Bean sprouts” – 豆芽 (dòuyá)

豆芽 is a general term for bean sprouts. You may see them stir-fried on their own, tucked into noodles or served as a topping.

“Soybean” – 大豆 (dàdòu)

Soybeans are the starting point for 豆浆/豆漿 (dòujiāng), soy milk, and 豆腐 (dòufu), tofu. Soy milk is a familiar Chinese breakfast drink, while tofu appears in an enormous range of savoury and sweet dishes.

“Eggplant” – 茄子 (qiézi)

A classic Sichuan dish is 鱼香茄子/魚香茄子 (yúxiāng qiézi), “fish-fragrant eggplant”. Despite the name, “fish-fragrant” describes a seasoning style; the dish is not defined by the presence of fish.

“Peanut” – 花生 (huāshēng)

Peanuts are legumes rather than botanical vegetables. In Chinese cooking, they can be served as a side dish or used as a topping for foods such as 酸辣粉 (suānlàfěn), hot-and-sour noodles.

They can also top 豆花 (dòuhuā), soft tofu pudding. I’m happy to eat this dessert at any time of year.

“Papaya” – 木瓜 (mùguā)

Papaya is a fruit, but it is useful market vocabulary. 木瓜 often appears in milk drinks and smoothies.

“Bok choy” – 小白菜 (xiǎobáicài) or 青江菜 (qīngjiāngcài)

The English name “bok choy” comes from Cantonese. In Mandarin, 小白菜 is one useful term, while 青江菜 is common in Taiwan. For a closer look at Cantonese, Mandarin and other varieties, read our guide to Chinese dialects and languages.

“Garlic chives” – 韭菜 (jiǔcài)

韭菜 refers to garlic chives, also called Chinese chives, rather than every herb called a chive in English. They are a common dumpling filling. Personally, I prefer them to cabbage in vegetarian dumplings.

“White radish” – 白萝卜/白蘿蔔 (báiluóbo)

White radish is the main ingredient in the Cantonese dim sum dish commonly called turnip cake or radish cake in English. Its Chinese name is 萝卜糕/蘿蔔糕 (luóbo gāo).

“Asparagus” – 芦笋/蘆筍 (lúsǔn)

Asparagus is often stir-fried on its own or with meat. 芦笋汁/蘆筍汁 (lúsǔn zhī) means asparagus juice.

“Green bean” – 豆角 (dòujiǎo) or 四季豆 (sìjìdòu)

豆角 is a broad, region-dependent name for edible bean pods. 四季豆 is a useful term for the common green bean, especially in Taiwan. Green beans are often stir-fried, sometimes with minced meat.

“Carrot” – 胡萝卜/胡蘿蔔 (húluóbo)

Carrot shares 萝卜/蘿蔔 (luóbo) with the word for radish. Add 白 (bái), “white”, for white radish; add 胡 (hú) for carrot.

“Broccoli” – 西兰花/西蘭花 (xīlánhuā) or 青花菜 (qīnghuācài)

西兰花/西蘭花 is common in mainland China. 青花菜 is another standard name and is commonly used in Taiwan. This distinction matters because 花椰菜 normally means cauliflower.

“Brussels sprouts” – 抱子甘蓝/抱子甘藍 (bàozi gānlán)

抱子甘蓝/抱子甘藍 is the standard agricultural name for Brussels sprouts.

“Coriander” – 香菜 (xiāngcài)

香菜 is coriander, called cilantro in North American English. It is used as a garnish in many dishes, including the Taiwanese 刈包 (guàbāo), a steamed bun commonly filled with braised pork, pickled greens, peanut powder and coriander.

“Basil” – 罗勒/羅勒 (luólè) or 九层塔/九層塔 (jiǔcéngtǎ)

罗勒/羅勒 is the general Mandarin word for basil. 九层塔/九層塔 is a familiar Taiwan term for a local basil used in dishes such as three-cup chicken. Basil varieties differ in flavour, so 九层塔 is not always interchangeable with the sweet basil used in Italian cooking.

“Winter melon” – 冬瓜 (dōngguā)

Winter melon is a large gourd used in soups, braises and stir-fries.

“Black soybean” – 黑豆 (hēidòu)

黑豆 literally means “black bean” and commonly refers to black soybeans. These beans are used whole and in fermented preparations; fermented black beans are 豆豉 (dòuchǐ).

“Cauliflower” – 花椰菜 (huāyēcài/huāyécài) or 菜花 (càihuā)

花椰菜 is pronounced huāyēcài in standard mainland Mandarin and huāyécài in Taiwan. 菜花 and 花菜 are also used in mainland China. In the bento below, you can see cauliflower with asparagus, cabbage and tofu.

“Onion” – 洋葱/洋蔥 (yángcōng)

洋葱/洋蔥 is the ordinary Mandarin word for onion. Some Chinese Buddhist vegetarian traditions avoid onions, garlic and other “five pungent plants”. That is a religious dietary rule, not a claim that onions stop being plant food.

“Chilli pepper” – 辣椒 (làjiāo)

辣椒 means a chilli or chilli pepper. For chilli sauce, use 辣椒酱/辣椒醬 (làjiāojiàng). A non-spicy bell pepper is usually 甜椒 (tiánjiāo), “sweet pepper”.

“Ginger” – 姜/薑 (jiāng)

Ginger is 姜 in simplified Chinese and 薑 in traditional Chinese. It is a common aromatic in stir-fries, soups and braised dishes.

“Mushrooms” – 蘑菇 (mógu)

蘑菇 is a general word for mushroom. Specific varieties have their own names: 金针菇/金針菇 (jīnzhēngū) is enoki, while 秀珍菇 (xiùzhēngū) is an oyster mushroom commonly named in Taiwan.

“Cucumber” – 黄瓜/黃瓜 (huángguā)

One of my favourites is a cold cucumber dish dressed with ingredients such as vinegar, garlic and chilli. It may be called 凉拌黄瓜/涼拌黃瓜 (liángbàn huángguā); in Taiwan, you will also hear 凉拌小黄瓜/涼拌小黃瓜 (liángbàn xiǎohuángguā).

Use Your Chinese Vegetable Vocabulary

You do not need to memorise all 28 words at once. Pick the foods you buy most often, say each word aloud and look for it on your next menu or market trip.

When you are ready to put them into a real order, use our guide to ordering food in Mandarin. For a broader Mandarin course in book form, have a look at Language Hacking Mandarin.

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