Mandarin Monday: Essential Taco Related Vocab

Katie Coy, Managing Editor | Apr 8, 2024 1:07 pm | Add a comment | 128 reads

Our Taco Fest 2024 is just under two weeks away and so what better time to brush up on some essential taco related vocab! We’ll be taking a look at some of the common fillings, extras and how to say you don’t want something in your taco – which may be especially helpful for those cilantro haters out there.

First of all taco in Chinese is 塔可 tǎkě, a nice, straight forward transliteration that anyone should be able to nail saying. Now, getting more into the details, let’s take a look at the different kinds of tortillas that are usually available for your tacos.

Corn tortilla: 玉米饼皮 yùmǐ bǐngpí
Flour tortilla: 面粉饼 miàn fěnbǐng or 小麦饼皮 xiǎomài bǐngpí
Hard shell: 脆皮 cuìpí
Soft shell: 软皮 ruǎnpí

Taco Names

Rather than directly translating the names of fillings like Al Pastor or Carnitas, most Mexican restaurants in China will instead translate the name to the main filling ingredient e.g. the type of meat, along with the cooking method. For example, Carnitas is often translated to 手撕猪肉塔可 shǒusī zhūròu tǎkě which literally means “pulled pork tacos”. So let’s check out some of the most common fillings and cooking techniques you’ll see on most menus.

Common fillings

Beef: 牛肉 niúròu
Beef tongue: 牛舌 niúshé
Steak: 牛排 niúpái
Pork: 猪肉 zhūròu
Chicken: 鸡肉 jīròu
Fried fish: 炸鱼 zháyú
Shrimp: 虾 xiā
Vegetarian: 素食 sùshí
Chorizo: 克里索香肠 kèlǐ suǒ xiāngcháng or 西班牙香肠 xībānyá xiāngcháng

Cooking method

Roasted: 烤 kǎo
Slow cooked: 慢炖 màn dùn
Slow roasted: 慢火炉 màn huǒlú
Grilled: 炭烤 tàn kǎo or 炙烤 zhìkǎo
Pulled: 手撕 shǒusī

Common garnishes

Along with the main filling, tacos of course come with an array of delicious garnishes like salsa, pickles, veggies and more to complete that beautiful little treat the world has come to love. Here we’ve picked out some of the most frequent garnishes you’re likely to encounter.

Salsa: 莎莎 shāshā
Guacamole: 牛油果酱 niúyóu guǒjiàng
Jalapeño: 墨西哥辣椒 mòxīgē làjiāo
Onion: 洋葱 yángcōng
Red onion: 红洋葱 hóng yángcōng
Pickle: 泡 pào or 腌 yān
Lime: 青柠檬 qīng níngméng
Cilantro: 香菜 xiāngcài
Avocado: 牛油果 niúyóuguǒ
Sour cream: 酸奶油 suān nǎiyóu

Specifying your taco order

Lastly, if you have some specific requirements for your taco here are a few useful phrases you can use.

Don’t add: 别放 biéfàng / 不要放 bù yàofàng

If there is a specific ingredient you don’t want in your taco you can say “请别放/不要放X qǐng biéfàng / bù yàofàng X”. For example if you are one of those people who hate coriander you can say “请别放香菜 qǐng biéfàng xiāngcài”.

Add less or more: 少放 shǎofàng /多放 duōfàng

As well as asking not to add something you also ask to add less of something by saying 请少放X qǐng shǎofàng X and to ask more of something 请多放X qǐng duōfàng X. For example if you love a bit of spice and want some more jalapeños you can say 请多放墨西哥辣椒 qǐng duōfàng mòxīgē làjiāo.

There is no better place to put this taco vocab to good use than at our upcoming Taco Fest on Apr 20-21, so what are you waiting for? Get your ticket now by scanning the QR code in the poster below!

Taco Fest 2024 will be taking place Apr 20-21 from 11am until 9pm at Tiantongyuan Culture and Arts Center. Tickets can be purchased by scanning the QR code in the poster above.

If you'd like to stay up to date with everything taco-related in the capital, join our dedicated Beijing Taco Fans group chat! Simply add TBJHelper on WeChat by scanning the QR code below and request to become a member.