How to Read Chinese Menus and Food Labels with Pleco

Chinese menus can be intimidating — most restaurants outside tourist areas have no English, and even photo menus may only show dish names without ingredients.

View Guide → gives you two powerful tools for this: a live camera reader that overlays translations, and a handwriting input that lets you draw characters you can't type.

Using the Camera on a Menu

The fastest approach for printed menus and food packaging.

1. 1. Open Pleco and tap the camera icon

   From the Pleco home screen, tap the camera icon (or go to Reader → Live). This opens the live camera view.

2. 2. Point at the menu text

   Hold your phone over the menu. Pleco highlights Chinese characters it recognizes with colored overlays. You don't need to hold perfectly still — the live mode updates in real time.

3. 3. Tap a dish name to look it up

   Tap any highlighted word or character. A dictionary entry appears at the bottom of the screen showing the character, pinyin pronunciation, and definition. Swipe up on the entry to see the full dictionary page with example sentences.

4. 4. Tap through the full dish name

   Chinese dish names are often 3-5 characters. Tap each word in sequence to understand the full name. For example: 红烧肉 = 红 (red) + 烧 (braise) + 肉 (pork) = red-braised pork belly.

Drawing Characters You Can't Photograph

Some menus are handwritten, on chalkboards, or in stylized fonts the camera struggles with. Use handwriting input instead.

1. 1. Tap the handwriting icon in the search bar

   On the Pleco home screen, tap the search bar, then tap the handwriting icon (looks like a pen). A drawing pad appears.

2. 2. Draw the character stroke by stroke

   Draw the character with your finger. Follow the general stroke order — top to bottom, left to right. Pleco shows candidate characters as you draw; tap the correct one.

3. 3. Build up the full dish name

   After selecting the first character, draw the next one. Pleco builds up the search term character by character. Tap Search when you have the full name.

Understanding Common Menu Patterns

Chinese dish names follow predictable patterns once you know a few key words:

• Cooking methods: 炒 (chǎo, stir-fry), 蒸 (zhēng, steam), 烤 (kǎo, roast/grill), 炸 (zhá, deep-fry), 红烧 (hóngshāo, red-braise), 清炒 (qīngchǎo, lightly stir-fried)
• Proteins: 猪肉 (zhūròu, pork), 牛肉 (niúròu, beef), 鸡肉 (jīròu, chicken), 鱼 (yú, fish), 虾 (xiā, shrimp), 豆腐 (dòufu, tofu)
• Vegetables: 白菜 (báicài, cabbage), 菠菜 (bōcài, spinach), 茄子 (qiézi, eggplant), 土豆 (tǔdòu, potato)
• Spice warning: 辣 (là) means spicy. 不辣 (bù là) means not spicy — useful to say when ordering.

Reading Food Labels and Packaging

The same camera and handwriting tools work on packaged food in supermarkets and convenience stores.

• Ingredients list: Look for 配料 (pèiliào) — this is the ingredients section. Tap each ingredient to check for allergens.
• Allergen warnings: Common allergens in Chinese: 花生 (huāshēng, peanuts), 坚果 (jiānguǒ, tree nuts), 麸质 (fūzhì, gluten), 乳制品 (rǔzhìpǐn, dairy), 鸡蛋 (jīdàn, eggs).
• Expiry date: Look for 保质期 (bǎozhìqī, shelf life) or 到期日 (dàoqīrì, expiry date).
• Net weight: 净含量 (jìng hánliàng) shows the net weight or volume.

Practical Tips

• Download offline dictionary first: Go to Pleco settings and download the CC-CEDICT dictionary before your trip. The camera reader works offline once the dictionary is downloaded.
• Simplified vs. Traditional: Menus in mainland China use simplified characters. Pleco handles both automatically.
• Dim sum menus: Dim sum restaurants often use order sheets where you tick boxes. The dish names are printed — use the camera to scan them before ticking.
• Save words you see often: Tap the bookmark icon on any entry to save it to flashcards. After a few meals, you'll recognize common dishes without needing to look them up.