Chinese dishes in the UK

Sweet and sour pork is battered pork in a bright, tangy red sauce with pineapple and peppers, the most ordered dish in British Chinese takeaways. Its Cantonese ancestor, gu lou yuk, is subtler and less sweet; the UK version is heavier on the batter and the sugar. Both are real; knowing the difference tells you what kind of Chinese restaurant you are in.

Kung pao chicken is diced chicken stir-fried with peanuts, dried chilli and Sichuan pepper in a sauce that is savoury, sweet, sour and numbing all at once. It is a Sichuan classic and one of the dishes that shows whether a Chinese restaurant cooks regional food or a generic sweet-sauce menu. The real version tingles from Sichuan pepper; the anglicised one is a mild peanut stir-fry.

Peking duck is roast duck with lacquered, crackling skin, carved and eaten wrapped in thin pancakes with hoisin sauce, cucumber and spring onion. It is a Beijing imperial dish and a celebration order, often carved at the table. In the UK it is a restaurant centrepiece; the related 'crispy aromatic duck' on takeaway menus is a British adaptation of the same idea.

Char siu is Cantonese barbecue pork: strips of pork marinated in a sweet-savoury sauce and roasted until the edges caramelise and char. Glossy red and honey-glazed, it hangs in the windows of Cantonese roast-meat shops and tops rice, noodles and buns. It is one of the great Cantonese things and a good test of a siu mei (roast meat) kitchen.

Crispy aromatic duck is the British Chinese restaurant's version of Peking duck: five-spice duck steamed until tender then fried until crisp, shredded, and eaten in thin pancakes with hoisin, cucumber and spring onion. Quarter-duck to share, it is one of the most ordered things on the UK menu, and though it is a local invention, done well it is genuinely good.

Salt and pepper chicken is battered chicken tossed with fried chilli, garlic, spring onion and a salt-and-five-spice seasoning, crisp and moreish. A Cantonese-British favourite, it is also made with squid, prawns, ribs and tofu. The dish is defined by the seasoning mix and the crispness; the best version is light and fragrant, the worst a soggy, over-salted heap.

Wonton soup is a clear broth with silky pork-and-prawn dumplings, one of the comforts of Cantonese cooking. The wontons are small, thin-skinned and delicate, floating in a light stock with maybe some greens. It is a starter or, with noodles added (wonton noodle soup), a full meal. A good bowl depends on the broth and the freshness of the filling.

Hot and sour soup is a thick, dark, peppery-and-tangy soup with tofu, mushroom, bamboo and egg, from northern China. Warming and bold, it is one of the most ordered soups on the British Chinese menu. The balance is the point: white pepper for heat, vinegar for sour, against a savoury base, thickened to a velvety body with beaten egg ribboned through.

Egg fried rice is cooked rice stir-fried with egg, spring onion and seasoning, the essential side to a Chinese meal and a dish in its own right. It sounds simple and is the hardest thing to get right: the test of it is separate, slightly toasted grains, not a wet clump. Day-old rice and a hot wok are the whole secret.

Mapo tofu is soft tofu and minced pork in a fiery, numbing sauce of fermented broad-bean paste, chilli and Sichuan pepper. It is one of the great Sichuan dishes: cheap, fast, and layered with the ma la tingle-and-heat that defines the region. The real thing is red with chilli oil and buzzes on the tongue; the mild Western version misses everything that makes it worth eating.

Chow mein is stir-fried noodles with vegetables and a choice of meat, one of the staples of the British Chinese takeaway. The name means 'stir-fried noodles' in Cantonese. There are two schools: the soft-fried version most UK takeaways serve, and the crispy Hong Kong style where the noodle cake is fried until crunchy. Both are real; the difference is worth knowing before you order.

Spring rolls are crisp fried rolls of thin pastry around a vegetable or meat filling, the standard starter of the British Chinese meal. The name comes from their origin as a spring-festival food. The good version is shatteringly crisp with a hot, well-seasoned filling; the bad one is a greasy tube of cabbage. They are eaten dipped in a sweet chilli or a vinegar sauce.

Dim sum is the Cantonese tradition of small steamed and fried dishes eaten with tea, usually at lunch: dumplings, buns, rolls and more, ordered a few at a time and shared. The phrase means 'touch the heart'. It is a meal and a ritual, and the UK's Chinatowns and a growing number of dim sum restaurants do it seriously. It is the best way to eat Cantonese food.

Chinese dumplings, jiaozi, are parcels of thin dough around a pork-and-cabbage or other filling, boiled, steamed or pan-fried as potstickers. A northern staple eaten by the dozen, especially at new year, they are distinct from the delicate Cantonese dim sum dumplings. In the UK, dumpling bars and northern restaurants serve them fresh, and they are among the best-value things to order.

Singapore noodles are thin rice vermicelli stir-fried with curry powder, prawns, char siu, egg and vegetables, yellow with spice and light in texture. Despite the name they are not from Singapore: they are a Hong Kong invention, and a fixture of the British Chinese menu. Good ones are dry, fragrant and separate; bad ones are a greasy, clumped, over-curried tangle.