<p>I've eaten and cooked this dish many times before, and either "soy-braised pork" or "pork braised in soy sauce" would be how I would describe it to an English-speaker (the '肉' in this dish refers to pork, normally pork belly).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-14T00:26:21.327Z
+1 for brevity lol
Ming
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-13T11:55:19.033Z
2015-01-15T12:53:28.457Z
2015-01-15T12:53:28.457Z
Cocowalla
<p>Let me build on the answers above:  "Hongshao pork" sounds exotic, I expect it sounds good to most Anglophone Americans who like Chinese food but very few will know what it is.  "Red cooked pork" is less exotic, maybe sounds more delicious to more people. "Pork braised in soy sauce" is the clearest brief description although most Americans do not really know what "braised" means.  </p>

<p>One general rule, "pork" already sounds delicious to most Americans (Anglophone or not).  To appeal to true pork lovers you could specify "pork belly" if you are using pork belly.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T05:49:31.770Z
I'd argue it's not real 红烧肉 if you're not using pork belly!
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T12:55:40.177Z
Serious question: do most Americans really not know what braising is?
Cocowalla
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-15T13:36:41.620Z
@NS.X. You'd be right. But goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/red-cooked-pork-1461 recommends using a pork shoulder, even many Asian cooking sites (in English) use other cuts. Pork belly is sold in American grocery stores almost exclusively in the form of bacon. Cocowalla, while I have no survey data on this, I believe most Americans identify a cooking method by how the food looks afterwards, and braised food looks to them as roast.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-14T14:27:54.350Z
2015-01-14T15:38:21.547Z
2015-01-14T15:38:21.547Z
Colin McLarty
<p>The standard translation is "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_cooking" rel="nofollow">red cooked</a>" in English; but this is not the most common way it is presented in overseas Chinese restaurants. </p>

<p>Culinary terms (around the world) are known for being difficult to translate (cf. French <em>macaronage</em>), and so a calque / loan translation / 意译 strategy is usually used. </p>

<p>However, 烧 in a culinary sense does <em>not</em> translate to English <em>burn</em>: the connotations of <em>burn</em> in English are not appreciated in cooking, and so the more usual <em>cook</em> is employed instead. When a loan translation is established, many related languages may adopt the same strategy. E.g. Spanish uses <em><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocci%C3%B3n_roja" rel="nofollow">cocción roja</a></em>. </p>

<p>Interestingly, across languages they might not use the same correspondence: some French sources use <em><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_shanghaienne" rel="nofollow">braisé en rouge</a></em>. This is a more explanatory translation, and it is this method that is most usual in restaurants even where English is spoken. <em>Braised in soy sauce</em>, or <em>Braised</em> + (meat) + <em>with/in soy sauce</em>, or even <em>Soy-braised</em> uses a slightly more well-understood collocation, that of <em>braising</em>, and mentions the main ingredient used in the sauce. This is therefore more transparent to the diner. It has now become semi-standard in the catering industry in overseas Chinese restaurants in English-speaking communities, whereas "red-cooked" is a specific jargon-like term.</p>

<p>However, it is possible to use a phonetic rendition / 音译: there are plenty of references to <em>hongshao</em> in English Internet media. Although this is not the main way that 红烧 is known, many examples from Japanese (<em>sushi</em>, <em>sashimi</em>, <em>yakitori</em>) and Korean (<em>kimchi/kimchee</em>, <em>bibimbap</em>) cuisine have been adopted this way. This has become the premier accepted translation for the related 叉烧, which is <em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char_siu" rel="nofollow">char siu</a></em> in English, borrowed through Cantonese and with the transcription done in a non-standard British-based orthography.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-13T12:00:11.183Z
2015-01-13T12:00:11.183Z
Michaelyus
<p>@Cocowalla I'm an American and on a anecdotal basis, I can tell you that I had no idea what braising is until I went to China. My American friends were likewise confused. I would actually say that some Americans might be turned off by describing something with "belly" -- for whatever reason, I think Americans are very turned off by dishes that explicitly name organs. </p>

<p>One of my friends refused to order "pork belly" even though she loves eating 红烧肉 when nobody tells her what it is (her command of Mandarin is also atrocious for a person who's lived there for two years). On another occasion, I tried to get a friend to eat 大肠 once and they were horrified when I told them what it is. On balance, I might just unfortunately keep the most stereotypical American expats as company. </p>

<p>My thought on American cooking terminology is that dishes describe cooking method but not much else in regards to seasoning, sauce, etc -- grilled salmon, fried fish, baked chicken. My purely observational thought is that Chinese cooking uses a lot of blended sauces that American English is not really equipped for. For example, I usually just call 叉烧 "Cantonese BBQ Pork" to other Americans when that isn't really accurate or descripitive considering it typically involves marinating/roasting, honey, rice wine, hoisin sauce, and lots of sugar. But "BBQ" is a very easy way for my friends to conceptualize it. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-21T13:26:15.867Z
This is not an answer, but a comment to Cocowalla's answer. As a comment I like it though.
Leo supports Monica Cellio
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-16T03:56:58.473Z
2015-01-16T03:56:58.473Z
Pender
<p>If I were to introduce this dish to a friend who doesn't speak Chinese, and has no knowledge of culinary techniques, I usually just say:</p>

<p>saucy fatty pork. </p>

<p>And add, good with rice.</p>

<p>However, for the more technical users, I believe others here have nailed it.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-31T19:56:25.660Z
2016-03-31T19:56:25.660Z
judester
<p>How to translate "红烧肉" to a foreigner.</p>

<p>The braise in soy sauce meat？</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-14T15:38:46.947Z
I usually look at a menu in a chinese restaurant and describe it the same way as they do
Huangism
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-02T13:33:54.243Z
It is a food made by more fat pork and a less lean pork and soy sauce and other flavouring to fry, I think that's not delicious.
I am a Chinese
DeSI
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-05T05:39:03.873Z
Never try to translate dish names. if you just want the foreigner to know the dish, let them take a try, and tell them the whole story of the dish.
gcd0318
<translation>
Help to translate "红烧肉" to a foreigner
# Help to translate "红烧肉" to a foreigner

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-01-13)

How to translate "红烧肉" to a foreigner.

The braise in soy sauce meat？

**Tags:** translation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I usually look at a menu in a chinese restaurant and describe it the same way as they do  
> **username_2**: It is a food made by more fat pork and a less lean pork and soy sauce and other flavouring to fry, I think that's not delicious. I am a Chinese  
> **username_3**: Never try to translate dish names. if you just want the foreigner to know the dish, let them take a try, and tell them the whole story of the dish.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-01-13. Score: 4

I've eaten and cooked this dish many times before, and either "soy-braised pork" or "pork braised in soy sauce" would be how I would describe it to an English-speaker (the '肉' in this dish refers to pork, normally pork belly).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: +1 for brevity lol  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2015-01-14. Score: 2

Let me build on the answers above: "Hongshao pork" sounds exotic, I expect it sounds good to most Anglophone Americans who like Chinese food but very few will know what it is. "Red cooked pork" is less exotic, maybe sounds more delicious to more people. "Pork braised in soy sauce" is the clearest brief description although most Americans do not really know what "braised" means.

One general rule, "pork" already sounds delicious to most Americans (Anglophone or not). To appeal to true pork lovers you could specify "pork belly" if you are using pork belly.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: I'd argue it's not real 红烧肉 if you're not using pork belly!  
> **username_4**: Serious question: do most Americans really not know what braising is?  
> **username_6**: @NS.X. You'd be right. But goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/red-cooked-pork-1461 recommends using a pork shoulder, even many Asian cooking sites (in English) use other cuts. Pork belly is sold in American grocery stores almost exclusively in the form of bacon. username_4, while I have no survey data on this, I believe most Americans identify a cooking method by how the food looks afterwards, and braised food looks to them as roast.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2015-01-13. Score: 2

The standard translation is "[red cooked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_cooking)" in English; but this is not the most common way it is presented in overseas Chinese restaurants.

Culinary terms (around the world) are known for being difficult to translate (cf. French *macaronage*), and so a calque / loan translation / 意译 strategy is usually used.

However, 烧 in a culinary sense does *not* translate to English *burn*: the connotations of *burn* in English are not appreciated in cooking, and so the more usual *cook* is employed instead. When a loan translation is established, many related languages may adopt the same strategy. E.g. Spanish uses *[cocción roja](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocci%C3%B3n_roja)*.

Interestingly, across languages they might not use the same correspondence: some French sources use *[braisé en rouge](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_shanghaienne)*. This is a more explanatory translation, and it is this method that is most usual in restaurants even where English is spoken. *Braised in soy sauce*, or *Braised* + (meat) + *with/in soy sauce*, or even *Soy-braised* uses a slightly more well-understood collocation, that of *braising*, and mentions the main ingredient used in the sauce. This is therefore more transparent to the diner. It has now become semi-standard in the catering industry in overseas Chinese restaurants in English-speaking communities, whereas "red-cooked" is a specific jargon-like term.

However, it is possible to use a phonetic rendition / 音译: there are plenty of references to *hongshao* in English Internet media. Although this is not the main way that 红烧 is known, many examples from Japanese (*sushi*, *sashimi*, *yakitori*) and Korean (*kimchi/kimchee*, *bibimbap*) cuisine have been adopted this way. This has become the premier accepted translation for the related 叉烧, which is *[char siu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char_siu)* in English, borrowed through Cantonese and with the transcription done in a non-standard British-based orthography.


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2015-01-16. Score: 2

@username_4 I'm an American and on a anecdotal basis, I can tell you that I had no idea what braising is until I went to China. My American friends were likewise confused. I would actually say that some Americans might be turned off by describing something with "belly" -- for whatever reason, I think Americans are very turned off by dishes that explicitly name organs.

One of my friends refused to order "pork belly" even though she loves eating 红烧肉 when nobody tells her what it is (her command of Mandarin is also atrocious for a person who's lived there for two years). On another occasion, I tried to get a friend to eat 大肠 once and they were horrified when I told them what it is. On balance, I might just unfortunately keep the most stereotypical American expats as company.

My thought on American cooking terminology is that dishes describe cooking method but not much else in regards to seasoning, sauce, etc -- grilled salmon, fried fish, baked chicken. My purely observational thought is that Chinese cooking uses a lot of blended sauces that American English is not really equipped for. For example, I usually just call 叉烧 "Cantonese BBQ Pork" to other Americans when that isn't really accurate or descripitive considering it typically involves marinating/roasting, honey, rice wine, hoisin sauce, and lots of sugar. But "BBQ" is a very easy way for my friends to conceptualize it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_10**: This is not an answer, but a comment to username_4's answer. As a comment I like it though.  

---

### Answer by username_11 on 2016-03-31. Score: 0

If I were to introduce this dish to a friend who doesn't speak Chinese, and has no knowledge of culinary techniques, I usually just say:

saucy fatty pork.

And add, good with rice.

However, for the more technical users, I believe others here have nailed it.


---

