| 刺激性 | cì jī xìng | thrilling / exciting / stimulating / irritating / provocative / pungent / spicy |  |
| 辛辣 | xīn là | spicy hot (taste) / fig. biting (criticism) |  |
| 酸甜苦辣 | suān tián kǔ là | sour, sweet, bitter and spicy hot / fig. the joys and sorrows of life | |
| 五味 | wǔ wèi | the five flavors, namely: sweet 甜, sour 酸, bitter 苦, spicy hot 辣, salty 鹹|咸 / all kinds of flavors | |
| 麻辣烫 | má là tàng | hot spicy soup (often sold in street stalls) | |
| 酸辣汤 | suān là tāng | hot and sour soup / sour and spicy soup | |
| 毛血旺 | máo xuè wàng | duck's blood and beef tripe in spicy soup | |
| 担担面 | dàn dàn miàn | Sichuan noodles with a spicy and numbing sauce | |
| 宫保鸡丁 | gōng bǎo jī dīng | Kung Pao Chicken / spicy diced chicken | |
| 宫爆鸡丁 | gōng bào jī dīng | gong bao chicken / spicy diced chicken | |
| 微辣 | wēi là | mildly spicy | |
| 极辣 | jí là | very spicy | |
| 荤辛 | hūn xīn | very pungent and spicy vegetable dishes (a common Buddhist term) | |
| 重辣 | zhòng là | very spicy | |
| 鸳鸯锅 | yuān yang guō | "mandarin ducks" pot (hot pot with a divider, containing spicy soup on one side, mild soup on the other) | |
| 喇沙 | lǎ shā | laksa, spicy noodle soup of Southeast Asia | |
| 叻沙 | lè shā | laksa, spicy noodle soup of Southeast Asia | |
| XO酱 | X O jiàng | XO sauce, a spicy seafood sauce invented in Hong Kong in the 1980s | |
| 辣条 | là tiáo | spicy sticks, a snack food similar to beef jerky but made with flour or dried beancurd instead of meat | |
| 辣鸡 | là jī | spicy chicken / (Internet slang) garbage (pun on 垃圾[la1 ji1]) | |
| 酸儿辣女 | suān ér là nu:3 | if a woman likes to eat sour during pregnancy, she will have a boy / if she likes to eat spicy, she will have a girl (idiom) | |
| 变态辣 | biàn tài là | (coll.) insanely spicy | |
| 大盘鸡 | dà pán jī | dapanji or "big plate chicken", a kind of spicy chicken stew originating from Xinjiang | |
