So I'm building a list I can bring to Chinatown, since my Mandarin is probably not up to ordering this stuff (I know the Cantonese names, but they don't always translate very well). Also, I'm illiterate.
| 苦瓜 | ku2 gua4 | bitter melon | Momordica charantia |
| 芋头 | yu3 tou1 | taro | Colocasia esculenta |
| 空心菜 | kong4 xin4 cai3 | water spinach | Ipomoae aquatica |
| 白萝卜 | bai1 luo1 bo1 | daikon | Raphanus sativus |
| 牛舌頭 | niu2 she1 tou1 | cow tongue | I don't know if the Chinese is right - in Cantonese it's just "cow tongue" (translated directly) |
| 牛筋 | niu2 jin4 | beef tendon | |
| 藕 | ou2 | lotus root | rhizome part of Nelumbo nucifera (Indian national flower) |
| 韭菜 | jiu2 cai3 | garlic/Chinese chives | Allium ramosum |
| 霸王花 | ba3 wang1 hua4 | Hylocereus undatus flower | (Thanks Aunty!) Translates to "Tyrant flower" (approximately). Cantonese: ba wong fa. These come dried in packages and need to be rehydrated before cooking (in soup). |
| 椶子 | zong3 zi2 | glutinous rice dumpling | Extremely delicious - how often do you get to eat tetrahedral food? |
I didn't want to put this in my shopping list, but something else I remembered from childhood (and will not eat now) is hair moss (Chinese: 发菜, pinyin: fa3 cai3, Cantonese: fat choy). Overharvesting it is bad for the environment, and apparently it contains a toxic amino acid.
If anyone has any other suggestions, please supply the Chinese and the pinyin. I would also love it if you would tell me how to cook it. :) I'd also love to add sausage to this list, but I only know the Cantonese for it. Of course, sausage is easily recognizable so I can get to it even without the name written out in Chinese.
Edit: finally got the pinyin and characters for all the items on my list. Thanks a ton to
murphyzlaw and my aunt!