Okay, so I’ve been craving some good Chinese takeout lately, but I wanted to try making something myself. I decided to tackle a menu, you know, like the ones you get at restaurants. I figured, “How hard could it be?” Famous last words, right?
First, I brainstormed a bunch of dishes. I wanted a good mix, some classics, some maybe a little less common. I wrote down everything that came to mind – Kung Pao Chicken, Chow Mein, Mapo Tofu, the works. My list got pretty long, pretty fast.
Then came the organizing. I decided to group things into categories, just like a real menu: Appetizers, Soups, Chicken, Beef, Seafood, Vegetables, Rice & Noodles. Made sense to me.
Next, I started typing everything up on my computer. I used just a simple text editor. I played around with the formatting a bit, trying to make it look decent. Centering the titles, using bold for the dish names, that sort of thing.
Appetizers
- Egg Rolls
- Spring Rolls
- Crab Rangoon
Soups
- Hot and Sour Soup
- Wonton Soup
Main Dishes
Chicken
- Kung Pao Chicken
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Chicken
I kept adding more dishes, filling out each section. Honestly, it took longer than I thought it would! It’s one thing to just think of dishes, another to actually write them all out neatly.
Finally, I printed it out. Seeing it on paper made it feel more “official,”. It’s not perfect, might add some pictures or descriptions later.
It’s basic, but hey, I made a menu! Now, time to actually cook some of this stuff…
