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Chinese takeaway plates
A takeaway word is a shape, not a species. Split the meat, the soy (alcohol sister already on file), oyster sauce, and a shared fryer. Dim sum is a meal of plates, not one ruling. Har gow inherits the shrimp split. Char siu is pork unless the kitchen says otherwise.
Two-minute Chinese-menu check
- Name the meat. Kung pao and orange chicken are usually chicken. Char siu and siu mai are pork. Moo shu is classically pork. Vegetable versions must say so.
- Then the bottles. Soy sauce is a named Birmingham fatwa — grape/date alcohol is the Hanafi red line. Oyster sauce is the bivalve, not this bottle. Shaoxing is cooking wine.
- Then the basket. Dim sum is several rows. Har gow is shrimp. Siu mai is pork. A fortune cookie is vanilla, not the meal.
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Source-dependent
Chow mein
Stir-fried noodles. The meat, the soy (alcohol sister), and a shared wok with pork. Vegetable chow mein must say so. Not lo mein.
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Source-dependent
Lo mein
Tossed wheat noodles in sauce. Soy, oyster sauce, meat. Sister to chow mein; the difference is the toss, not a ruling.
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Source-dependent
Kung pao
A Sichuan stir-fry, usually chicken, chilli, peanut. The meat and the slaughter. A pork kung pao exists. Shaoxing in some recipes is the cooking-wine …
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Source-dependent
Orange chicken
Battered fried chicken in a sweet orange sauce. The bird, a shared fryer, and a sauce that may include soy, vinegar, flavour. A brand chain is not thi…
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Source-dependent
General Tso
American-Chinese battered chicken in a sweet-chilli sauce. Same checks as orange chicken: the bird, the fryer, the sauce. Not a certificate of a chain…
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Source-dependent
Char siu
Cantonese barbecue, classically pork. Chicken char siu exists. The red is often fermented red bean or food colour, not always carmine — read the stall…
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Source-dependent
Dim sum
A meal of small plates, not one animal. Har gow (shrimp), siu mai (pork), char siu bao (pork bun), vegetable dumplings. Each plate is a row. The baske…
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Source-dependent
Har gow
A translucent shrimp dumpling. Shrimp is a cited Hanafi split already on file. Follow the scholar you follow. Pork siu mai is a different plate.
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Source-dependent
Siomai
An open dumpling, classically pork and shrimp. Chicken and fish siomai exist. Wrapper, filling species, and a steamer shared with pork. See gyoza and …
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Source-dependent
Xiao long bao
A Shanghainese soup dumpling. Pork is usual; crab-roe and vegetarian versions exist. The wrapper is wheat. Broth aspic (gelatin or meat stock) is a se…
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Source-dependent
Congee
Rice porridge. Plant if it is only rice and water. Century egg, pork, and dried shrimp are extras. Not a blank yes.
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Source-dependent
Scallion pancake
A flaky flatbread of flour, oil, spring onion. Plant. A restaurant version may use lard. Shared griddle. Not a pancake mix.
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Source-dependent
Dan dan
Sichuan noodles, chilli oil, minced meat, often pork. The meat is the ruling. A vegetarian dan dan must say so. Sesame and Sichuan pepper are plant.
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Source-dependent
Moo shu
A northern stir-fry, classically pork, egg, wood ear, wrapped in a thin pancake. Pork is the pig. A chicken or vegetable moo shu must say so.
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Source-dependent
Hot and sour soup
A thick sour-chilli soup. Often pork, egg, wood ear, tofu, vinegar. The meat and the vinegar. A vegetarian version must say so.
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Source-dependent
Soy Sauce
A fermented soy-and-wheat sauce. Named positions do not give a blanket yes. AHF: must be free from alcohol. Darul Iftaa Birmingham (Hanafi): permissib…
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Source-dependent
Oyster sauce
Oyster extract, sugar and soy. Shellfish rulings differ by school; wheat soy sauce and caramel colour are extra checks. Vegetarian oyster-flavoured sa…
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Source-dependent
Fortune cookie
A folded vanilla wafer with a paper. Flour, sugar, vanilla. Vanilla extract is the alcohol-carrier sister. Not a ruling on the meal it comes with.
A procedure for reading a pack - not a product certification and not a fatwa. See the methodology.