Chinese vocabulary for meat: All you need to know for Beef, Chicken, Pork and more!

As a meat-eater, you’ll find yourself in heaven in China. There are all sorts of meats to discover and eat! And by all sorts, we really do mean all sorts, including parts you perhaps seldom eat. So, to make deciphering a Chinese menu easier, there’s a whole new stage on Ninchanese dedicated to meats! To give you a taste, here’s a list of the essential Chinese meat vocabulary to know … and that you’ll be learning on the app. Warning: this list of Chinese words for meat may make you very hungry!

A Meat Stall in Market, with different cuts of Meat

Photo by Natalie Ng

Ready to learn how to say different cuts of meat in Chinese? So you can easily order yummy slices of meat for your next 火锅 huǒ guō hot pot? Or finally, know what kind of meat is in Chinese dumplings? Then Chinese Meat recipes will hold no secret for you!

First, let’s see how to say meat in Chinese as well as Chicken, Turkey, Pork, Lamb, Duck, Veal, and Beef in Chinese.

And no, don’t even ask, we won’t be talking about cat meat in Chinese or any other kind of strange meat (it seems like people look up rat meat in Chinese? The horror). Dog Meat is sometimes eaten in winter because it’s super caloric meat to eat, but we’ve never come across any other type, so enough with the rumors! Alright? Here we go.

Types of Meat in Chinese

Photo by Usman Yousaf

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
肉	ròu	meat
猪肉	zhū ròu	pork
牛肉	niú ròu	beef
小牛肉	xiǎo niú ròu	veal
火鸡	huǒ jī	turkey
鸡肉	jī ròu	chicken meat
羊肉	yáng ròu	lamb
鸭	yā	duck

Good to know: In China, you’ll often come across dish names that simply say 肉 ròu Meat. In most restaurants (the obvious exception being Halal Uyghur restaurants ), 肉 will by default be pork. That’s because, traditionally, pork is the most consumed meat (or at least was in the past).
If you’re not sure whether it’s going to be pork or not or are trying to avoid eating pork, better check with your waiter/waitress first!

You’ll also often just see 鸡 jī chicken, 鸭 yā duck, 羊 yáng lamb, mutton, 牛 niú Beef on their own, without the 肉 thrown in, on a menu. So you might not see duck meat in Chinese, but you’ll definitely see 鸭 and a favorite, 烤鸭 yā Roast Duck!

Cuts of Meat in Chinese

Yummy looking meat skewers on a coal grill

Chinese Meat Skewers Photo by Chuan

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
串	chuàn	skewer
里脊	lǐ ji	tenderloin; meat loin
牛排	niú pái	steak
肉片	ròu piàn	meat slice
肉馅	ròu xiàn	meat filling
碎肉	suì ròu	chopped meat
肉丝	ròu sī	shredded meat (often pork)
肉末	ròu mò	ground meat; minced meat

Love meat skewers? You’re going to love these other street food dishes, then, we bet!

Chicken wings in Chinese and more chicken parts

A dish of Chinese Wings with scallions, lettuce and cilantro that looks to die for

Chicken Wings are a very loved Chinese food – Photo by George Zheng.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
胸肉	xiōng ròu	breast meat (chicken breast)
鸡排	jī pái	chicken chop; cutlet
鸡翅	jī chì	chicken wing
鸡腿	jī tuǐ	chicken leg; drumstick

Curious to know how to say scallion in Chinese or cilantro? Check out these Chinese food lists then!
More of a hands-on learner? Then learn directly how to say meat, scallion, and more in Chinese: the Chinese Food World on Ninchanese will teach you and much more!

A screenshot of different learning stages on Ninchanese, all centered on Chinese food

Just a few of the many things you can learn in the Chinese food course on Ninchanese

Now, let’s get back to our Chinese words for meats.

Parts of Pork in Chinese and Pig Meat-based Products

Ground pork, scaillion and rice wine being mixed together to make a dumpling filling

Pork Meat is often used in Chinese Dumplings – Photo by Alex Hu

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
猪排	zhū pái	pork ribs; pork chop
排骨	pái gǔ	pork chop; pork cutlet; spare ribs
叉烧	chā shāo	char siu; barbecued pork
肉松	ròu sōng	pork floss (shredded dry pork)
火腿	huǒ tuǐ	ham
香肠	xiāng cháng	sausage
火腿肠	huǒ tuǐ cháng	ham sausage