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Tacos are a widely beloved food. Today, we'll be taking a look at some common fillings, extras, and how to say you don't want something in your taco – which may be especially helpful for those cilantro haters out there.

"Taco" in Chinese is 塔可 tǎ kě, a nice, straightforward transliteration that everyone should be able to catch on to. Getting more into the details, let's take a look at the different kinds of taco tortillas that are typically offered.

Corn tortilla: 玉米饼皮 yù mǐ bǐng pí

Flour tortilla: 面粉饼 miàn fěn bǐng or 小麦饼皮 xiǎo mài bǐng pí

Hard shell: 脆皮 cuì pí

Soft shell: 软皮 ruǎn pí

Taco names

Most Mexican restaurants in China translate the name to the main taco fillings, such as the type of meat or cooking method. For example, Carnitas is often translated to 手撕猪肉塔可 shǒu sī zhū ròu tǎ kě which means "pulled-pork tacos". Let's check out some of the most common fillings and cooking techniques you'll see on many menus.

Common fillings

Beef: 牛肉 niú ròu

Beef tongue: 牛舌 niú shé

Steak: 牛排 niú pái

Pork: 猪肉 zhū ròu

Chicken: 鸡肉 jī ròu

Fried fish: 炸鱼 zhá yú

Shrimp: 虾 xiā

Vegetarian: 素食 sù shí

Chorizo: 克里索香肠 kè lǐ suǒ xiāng cháng or 西班牙香肠 xī bān yá xiāng cháng

Cooking method

Roasted: 烤 kǎo

Slow-cooked: 慢炖 màn dùn

Slow-roasted: 慢烤 màn kǎo

Grilled: 炭烤 tàn kǎo or 炙烤 zhì kǎo

Pulled: 手撕 shǒu sī

Common garnishes

Along with the main filling, tacos come with an array of delicious garnishes like salsa, pickles, veggies, and more, to complete that beautiful little treat the world has come to love. We've picked out some of the most frequent garnishes you're likely to encounter.

Salsa: 莎莎 shā shā

Guacamole: 牛油果酱 niú yóu guǒ jiàng

Jalapeño: 墨西哥辣椒 mò xī gē là jiāo

Onion: 洋葱 yáng cōng

Red onion: 红洋葱 hóng yáng cōng

Pickle: 泡 pào or 腌 yān

Lime: 青柠檬 qīng níng méng

Cilantro: 香菜 xiāng cài

Avocado: 牛油果 niú yóu guǒ

Sour cream: 酸奶油 suān nǎi yóu

Specifying your taco order

Lastly, if you have specific requirements for your tacos, there are a few useful phrases:

Don't add: 别放 bié fàng / 不要放 bù yào fàng

If there is a specific ingredient you don't want in your tacos, you can say "请别放/不要放X, qǐng bié fàng / bù yào fàng X". For example if you hate coriander, you can say "请别放香菜, qǐng bié fàng xiāng cài".

Add less or more: 少放 shǎo fàng /多放 duō fàng

As well as asking not to add something, you also want to ask to add less of something by saying "请少放X, qǐng shǎo fàng X" and to ask more of something "请多放X, qǐng duō fàng X". For example if you love a bit of spice and want more jalapenos, you can say "请多放墨西哥辣椒, qǐng duō fàng mò xī gē là jiāo".