Menu Data Visualization
One interesting finding is that almost every Chinese restaurant has "lychee" as a desert. It is a tropical tree native to the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of China, where cultivation is documented from 1059 AD. Good lychees have a beautifully lush, floral perfume. Sweet but not too sweet, with an occasional hint of tartness, they pair well with flavors such as jasmine, rose, and coconut. China is the main producer of lychees, followed by India, other countries in South east Asia and South Africa.
Another desert which appears frequently is "almond cookie". Chinese almond cookie is adapted from the Chinese walnut cookie from China, which first appeared in the Ming Dynasty (Jiajing Emperor Period) during the 16th century. The recipe was first created from the emperor’s palace, and it was considered a royalty cookie. The recipe was introduced by the first wave of Chinese immigration to the U.S. in the 19th century. Today this recipe is widespread around the world and there is even a National Chinese Almond Cookie Day on April 9th.
The graph shows the most frequent terms in the menus. The links indicate how the dishes are cooked and the main ingredients in them.
Another finding in the menu data collection is that almost half of the Chinese restaurants have a separate menu. A separate menu is created for Chinese customers, with the more authentic food on the menu. Some restaurants have "secrete menus". They are not written down anywhere. People can order them by simply asking for them. Those dishes are the most popular ones in China that everyone knows of. The data set also reveals that egg is a main ingredient in Chinese cuisine. The graph shows the number of restaurants which use eggs in their dishes.
