I tried to collecting everything on this thread and abridging/organizing it into a list to email myself to keep on my phone. Some of them don't have hanzi so if anyone wants to add that, you're awesome.

It's weird, studying Menu food was exactly what I had planned to do today so that I could finally start ordering something other than Gong Bao Ji Din every damn time. So thanks all for the inputs. I'll check back and edit in any corrections or additions.

R/China's Favorite Chinese Dishes

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[Sides/Vegetables/Potatoes/etc]

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番茄（西红柿）炒蛋 - fan1qie2 (xi1hong2shi4)chao3dan4 -egg and tomato, both 番茄 and 西红柿 mean tomato.

Gan bian yun dao or Gan bian si ji dao depending on where you are. Fried green beans with red peppers, sichuan pepper corns and little crumbles of pork

韭菜炒蛋 - jiu3cai4chao3dan4 - chive and egg omelet

红烧土豆片 - hong2shao1tu3dou4pian1 - Fried up potato slices in a really nice sauce.

酸辣白菜 - suan1la4bai2cai4 - hot and sour napa cabbage. Usually has pork

香菇青菜/油菜 - xiang1gu1qing1cai4/you2cai4 - mushrooms and a green (油菜 is more common in the northeast, 青菜 everywhere else) stir fried with a lot of garlic. You can usually always find it without the mushrooms（香菇） as well. Usually called 炒(chao3)青菜/油菜.

地三鲜 - di4san1xian1 - potatoes, green peppers and eggplant stir fried in a nice sauce. "Three fresh earths"

蛋黄南瓜 - dan4huang2nan2gua1 - pumpkin battered in egg yolks then deep fried. This one is a gamble

Hu pi la jiao (green chillies fried with soy sauce, garlic and salt)

酸辣土豆丝 - suan1la4tu3dou4si1 - Vinegar-y and spicy potato strings.

xiao bai cai, as a cheap and easy salad

茄子 (qie zi)eggplant, aubergine 风味茄子 (feng weir qie zi)deep fried eggplant with a yummy sauce 鱼香茄子 (yu xiang qie zi)eggplant in a lightly sweet red sauce 地三鲜 (de san xian), it is potato, eggplant and green pepper in a sweet brown sauce, so good Gong bao qie zi Hong shao qie zi

xx年糕 - xxnian2gao1 - 年糕 fantastic little cakes of glutenous rice. most common would be 年糕汤, (nian2gao1tang1) which is a soup and is pretty good. You could also find 韩式年糕 (han2shi4nian2gao1) Korean style nian gao which is in a thick and delicious sauce, this might be the most popular and commonplace after the soup. My personal favorite is 炒年糕 (chao3nian2gao1) which is fried nian gao in the same vein as fried rice or fried noodles. I have not seen this in the northeast, though. However, it is very common down by Shanghai and Guangzhou.

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[Dumplings]

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饺子 (jiao3zi) dumplings

XX锅贴 (guo1tie1) pot-stickers 炒蛋锅贴 (chao3dan4guo1tie1) pot stickers omelet.

韭菜肉 (jiu3cai4rou4) chive and pork (THESE ARE THE BEST)

牛肉青椒 (niu2rou4qing1jiao1) beef and bell pepper

羊肉 (yang2rou4) lamb meat,

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[Meat]

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宫保鸡丁 - gong bao ji ding

锅包肉 - guo1bao1rou4 - sweet fried meat dish. Sweet, sweet and sweet pork would be a good translation

红烧x - hong2shao1x - you can usually get 红烧 anything. eggplant, beef, lamb, pork, etc

回锅肉 - hui2guo1rou4 - twice cooked pork. Usually sort of spicy, but also has peppers, onions and occasionally potatoes

辣子鸡, la zi ji - spicy chicken(or 猪pork,牛beef, etc)

水煮肉片 shui3zhu3rou4pian4. An awesome dish of pork pieces in a spicy peppery broth on a layer of cabbage and other vegetables

糖醋里脊 - Tang2cu4li3ji3 - sweet and sour pork,

台湾卤肉 - tai2wan1lu3rou4 - minced pork and veggies.

土豆牛肉 - tu3dou4niu2rou4 - beef and potatoes fried up together

鱼香肉丝, yu xiang rou si, strips of pork with a sweet and sour sauce. Can be spicy

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[Soup/Noodles]

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亁炒牛河 Gan chao niu he Noodles, beef and bean sprouts wide rice noodles stir fried in sesame sauce AND/OR sesame oil with sprouts, beef, and onion. The dish

LaTiaozi - Muslim. noodles in this tomato sauce with lots of veggies and some meat if you want

热干面, re gan mian, "dry" noodles (no soup) with a sesame paste sauce

炸酱面，zha jiang mian, noodles with minced pork, no soup, just a sauce

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[Tofu]

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干煸豆角 gan bian dou jou - aka 干煸四季豆 which is a very tasty spicy bean dish

家常豆腐 Jia Chang Doufu - Homestyle tofu

麻婆豆腐 - ma2po2dou4fu spicy tofu

日本豆腐 - ri4ben3dou4fu3 - Japanese style tofu. a bit weird (ie not firm)