A pictorial guide to Chinese cooking ingredients

hzrt8w · June 2, 2010

油鹽菜心
Is that a proper term? Can't say I've ever heard of it ordered that way.
are those the characters for Yow Yim Choy Sum?
that is the way Yow Yim Choy Sum was described in one of my cookbooks but when I have asked for it at a restaurant, I have been asked which sauce, garlic or oyster sauce, I want the vegetable with...I have had to specify that I want it plain!

I agree with Chee Fai. The way this 油鹽菜心 (Yow Yim Choy Sum) is named is a bit odd in Cantonese.

What you want... mostly is referred to in Cantonese as:

清炒菜心

(Pronounced Tsing Chow Choy Sum).

"Tsing Chow" means "vegetable only" (without meat). It is fairly universally understood that the vegetable will be stir-fried with salt and garlic.

hzrt8w · June 2, 2010

Or you can say (but less common):

蒜蓉菜心

(Pronounced Tsueen Yung Choy Sum).

This is more specific: minced garlic stir-fried with choy sum.

Edited June 2, 2010 by hzrt8w (log)

dmreed · June 2, 2010

Or you can say (but less common):
蒜蓉菜心
(Pronounced Tsueen Yung Choy Sum).
This is more specific: minced garlic stir-fried with choy sum.

but what I what is choy sum without garlic...just oil and salt!

what would be the name and the Chinese characters.

BTW I got my original name from a cookbook and it said that this was the best way to test the wok hay capabilities of the chef.

udscbt · June 24, 2010

Hello,

I am not sure that this should be a separate thread but, as a complement to the thread “A pictorial guide to chinese ingredients”, here goes.

I live in Paris and am exploring Chinese regional cuisines. To execute the different recipes (mostly in English), I have bought ingredients from specialty shops often by showing the Chinese characters for ingredients I cannot find.

I wonder if you have the same problem of needing the Chinese equivalent for an ingredient. If so, perhaps the following list in English and Chinese would be useful. Since I am not Chinese, I probably have made some mistakes; if so, please correct them and I thank you ahead of time.

Also, since there are surely many other ingredients which I have not yet used, please add them if you will.

Have a good day !

I have made my list in alphabetical order:

abalone, canned (鲍鱼 )

alcohol, Chinese: Fenjiu or Fen Chieu (汾酒 )

asian eggplants (茄子)

bamboo shoots (竹笋 )

bean curd, fresh (豆腐 )

black beans, salted/fermented (豆豉 )

black bean sauce ( 豆豉酱 )

cabbage

….. white Beijing variety (aka Napa) (大白菜 )

….. green Shanghai variety (aka bok choy) (上海白菜 )

celery, Chinese ( 芹菜 )

chili bean sauce ( 辣豆瓣酱 )

chile bean paste ( 豆瓣酱 )

chili (hot peppers), dried ( 干辣椒 )

chili oil ( 辣椒油 )

chives, Chinese or garlic (韭菜 )

cinnamon or cassia bark, Chinese ( 桂皮 )

coriander leaves (aka Chinese parsley/cilantro) ( 芫荽 or 香菜 )

five-spice powder, Chinese ( 五香粉 )

ginger

..... fresh ginger

.…. young ginger ( 子姜 )

marinated ginger ( 腌姜 )

ginseng

..... american ginseng ( 花旗参 )

….. white panax ginseng ( 白蔘 )

….. red panax ginseng ( 红蔘 )

….. young ginseng (dangshen) ( 党参 )

green algae in powder ( 绿色紫菜粉 )

hoisin sauce ( 海鲜酱 )

….. sweet flour sauce ( 甜面酱 )

lily flowers (aka golden needles), dried ( 金針 )

lotus leaves, dried ( 荷叶 )

mushrooms

….. black mushrooms, dried

………. wood ear mushrooms ( 木耳 )

………. cloud ear mushrooms ( 云耳 )

………. snow ear mushrooms ( 雪耳 )

….. fragrant mushrooms (or shiitake) (香菇 )

noodles

….. bean thread (or cellophane) noodles ( 粉丝 )

….. (fresh) egg noodles ( 鲜蛋面 )

….. Shanghai noodles (or udon) ( 上海粗面 )

oyster sauce ( 蚝油 )

pandan leaves ( 斑兰叶 )

pickled mustard leaves ( 咸菜 or 咸酸菜 )

….. red-in-snow ( 雪菜 or 雪里红 )

plum sauce ( 酸梅酱 )

rice

….. "long grain" white rice

….. glutinous rice ( 糯米 )

….. red rice ( 红米 )

rice wine ( 米酒 or 料酒 )

rice wine from Shaoxing ( 紹兴酒 or 紹兴花雕酒 )

rice wine vinegar

….. white rice wine vinegar ( 白米醋 )

….. black rice wine vinegar ( 香醋 )

….. black rice wine vinegar from Zhenjiang/Chinkiang ( 鎮江香醋 )

sausage, Chinese ( 香肠 or 腊肠 )

scallions ( 葱 )

scallops, dried ( 瑶柱 )

sesame oil ( 香油 or 麻油 )

sesame paste ( 芝麻酱 )

sesame seeds

….. white sesame seeds ( 白芝麻 )

….. black sesame seeds ( 黑芝麻 )

shrimp chips ( 虾饼干 )

shrimp, dried ( 虾米 )

Sichuan peppercorns ( 花椒 )

Sichuan preserved vegetable ( 四川榨菜 )

snow peas ( 雪豆 or 荷兰豆 )

soy sauces

….. soy sauce (light or thin) ( 生抽 )

….. soy sauce (dark or thick) ( 老抽 )

star anise (八角 or 大料 )

starch/flour

….. corn ( 太白粉 )

….. potato ( 生粉 )

….. sweet potato ( 地瓜粉 )

sugar

….. brown sugar

….. rock sugar ( 冰糖 )

taro root ( 芋头 )

water chestnuts ( 荸荠 )

….. water chestnut powder ( 荸荠粉 or 马蹄粉 )

….. jicama (fresh water chestnut substitute) (豆薯 )

white radish, Chinese ( 白萝卜 )

wolfberries ( 枸杞子 )

yellow bean sauce ( 黄豆酱 )

liuzhou · June 25, 2010

chili oil is more commonly referred to as 红油

black mushrooms, dried are 冬菇

CFT · June 25, 2010

Those black mushrooms are more commonly known as shiitake mushrooms.

As to your other "mushrooms" they're fungi. Wood/cloud/snow ear fungus.

udscbt · June 25, 2010

Hello,

Thanks for your replies. I will integrate them into my personal Glossary. I do have a problem distinguishing mushrooms and fungi!

I haven't been able to connect all day for some reason. I wanted to add that I forgot to mention that I have benefited from exchanges with Sunflower on her blog (sunflower blog) but whatever mistakes in my glossary are my fault.

Have a good day.

Edited June 25, 2010 by udscbt (log)

udscbt · June 27, 2010

Hello again re fungi and mushrooms:

I am a physicist and not a botanist so I have relied on dictionaries and wikipedia. Here is what I have found, with references, concerning the definitions of these terms, as well as those of Chinese mushrooms/fungi.

I/a. FUNGUS

1. reference - the unabridged "Random House Dictionary of the English Language: fungus": Any of numerous thallophytes of the division fungi, comprising mushrooms, molds, mildews, rusts, smuts, etc., characterized chiefly by absence of chlorophyll and by subsisting upon organic matter

2. reference - free dictionary: fungus : Any of numerous eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Fungi, which lack chlorophyll and vascular tissue and range in form from a single cell to a body mass of branched filamentous hyphae that often produce specialized fruiting bodies. The kingdom includes the yeasts, molds, smuts, and mushrooms

3. reference - wikipedia: fungus: A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.

I/b. MUSHROOM

1. reference - unabridged "Random House Dictionary of the English Language: mushroom": Any of various fleshy fungi incluiding the toadstools, puffballs, coral fungi, morels, etc. Also: Any of several edible species, esp. of the family agaricaceae as agaricus camestris

2. reference - free dictionary: mushroom : Any of various fleshy fungi of the class Basidiomycota, characteristically having an umbrella-shaped cap borne on a stalk, especially any of the edible kinds, as those of the genus Agaricus.

3. reference - wikipedia: mushroom: A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source.

Therefore, apparently, mushrooms are fungi of a special kind

(for your information, they both have the same name in French: champignons)

II. CHINESE MUSHROOMS: reference - wikipedia: chinese mushrooms (same as “Chinese edible fungi” for wikipedia)

Among other mushrooms in their list, you will find:

· Cloud ear fungus: 云耳, yún ěr, "cloud ear"; or 木耳, mù ěr, "wood ear"/"tree ear"

· Shiitake: 香菇, xiānggū "fragrant mushroom"; high grades are 冬菇, dōnggū, "winter mushroom" and 花菇, huāgū, "flower mushroom". Other names include Chinese black mushroom and black forest mushroom.

· Snow fungus: 银耳, yín ěr; "silver ear"; or 雪耳, xuě ěr; "snow ear"; or 白木耳, bái mù ěr, "white wood ear"

· Wood ear: 木耳, mù ěr, "wood ear" or "tree ear"

There is apparently a difference in Chinese between those mushrooms/fungi with the 耳 (ěr) ideogram and those with the 菇, (gū) ideogram. Is that correct?

I think that we should not focus on the semantic differences between fungi and mushrooms (one is apparently a subset of the other from a botanical point of view). The important thing for the cook is that, roughly, there are two kinds: those that are used to give flavor (for example: the shiitake in its different forms), and those that are used to give texture (for example: cloud ear fungus, snow fungus, wood ear).

Do you agree?

Have a good day.

CFT · June 28, 2010

There is no ambiguity in the Chinese. But if you described the cloud/wood/snow fungus as mushrooms you might be confusing people when they go down to the shops to source their ingredients.

udscbt · July 14, 2010

Hello again,

Let me give an example of how I use the glossary. I have just made a dinner with the following four dishes: Chicken in Taro-Root Nest; Orange-Peel Beef ; Smoked fish, Shanghai style; and Assorted Meat Soup in Wintermelon. These dishes require some ingredients which can only be found in specialty shops, for example, taro-root, water-chestnut powder, Shaoxing wine, Chinkiang rice vinegar, wintermelon (瑶柱) and dried scallops or conpoy (干贝 ou 瑶柱 ). In particular, since I have never used the latter two, I used their Chinese equivalents given in the glossary in order to ask the persons working in a few large supermarkets. This usually enables me to find the appropriate items.

I was able to find the wintermelon but not its 2.5kg version which I wanted but rather smaller ones, about 800g which I adapted to the recipe. I later found out that the larger version could be found in another part of town. I was unable to find the dried scallops and substituted fresh ones which is not really what I wanted; does anyone have a better substitute?

So, sometimes its works and sometimes it doesn’t.

If you use the glossary, perhaps you can give your experience as well. Or, if you have some other way to proceed, I would be very interested.

Have a good day.

annachan · March 12, 2011

I was unable to find the dried scallops and substituted fresh ones which is not really what I wanted; does anyone have a better substitute?

Dried scallops have a pretty unique flavor. The only thing I can think of that is somewhat similar is dried shrimps. Not so much the tiny ones but the large dried prawns, with shells and heads on. Not sure if that's easy to source either....

udscbt · May 11, 2011

Hello,

In the same spirit to the list in English, you can check out the French names of Chinese ingredients on the web site associated with my book at www.cuisines-chinoises-regionales.comwith its detailed descriptions and images of the recipes and ingredients, and with its recipe of the month! The Chinese names are given for the recipes and their ingredients so that you can easily order the dish in a restaurant or find the ingredient in a specialty food market.

Try it out!

Best regards, udscbt

liuzhou · May 12, 2011

The problem with all lists like this is that there are so many regional variations in ingredient names in Chinese.

Another, more easily dealt with, problem is that all the names given above are in Simplified Chinese as used in Mainland China today.

Most overseas Chinese use Traditional Chinese as still used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This means that labels and packaging in Chinatowns around the world are more likely to use Traditional. Some times there is no difference between the two, or they are similar enough to be guessed at, but very often they are very different. If you go looking for 绍兴酒 but can only find 紹興酒 you may go home frustrated. But they are the same thing - Shaoxing wine first in simplified, then in traditional.

Any list needs both.

udscbt · May 21, 2011

Thanks Liuzhou,

Even though I have never had the problem you mention, I think that you are right.

In the next edition of the glossary, I will put the traditional characters, where appropriate, in addition to the simplified ones I have used. In fact, I am curious to find out what percentage of the ingredients are written differently, as in your example of Shaoxing wine.

BTW, what important ingredients are left out all together?

Best regards

liuzhou · May 25, 2011

I have now posted an extended list of ingredients on the wikiGullet Project. This list includes simplified and traditional characters along with Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciations.

The list is at http://wiki.egullet.org/index.php?title=Chinese_ingredients

udscbt · June 2, 2011

Hi Liuzhou,

Many thanks for all the hard work.

For curiosity, I have analysed the list with the following results:

1. 114 ingredients of which 59% have the same characters in traditional as in simplified form.

2. 288 total characters (with some duplicates) of which 82% have the same characters in traditional as in simplified form.

Interesting.

Have a good day, Georges

udscbt · May 22, 2013

Hi Liuzhou,

After a year I am back with some proposed additions to your list which I admit is already quite complete. As usual, I only use simplified characters:

1. add 2 varieties of "cabbage":

a. pickled mustard greens ( 咸菜 or 咸酸菜 )

b. red-in-snow cabbage (雪里红 )

2. add dried chili (干辣椒 )

3. add 2nd definition for chili oil ( 红油 or 辣椒油 )

4. add Fenjiu or Fen Chieu liquor ( 汾酒 )

5. add ginseng

a. american ginseng (花旗参 )

b. white ginseng (白蔘 )

c. red ginseng ( 红蔘 )

6. add to hoisin sauce

a. sweet flour sauce/paste (甜面酱 )

7. add egg noodles (鸡蛋面 )

8. add 2nd definition to radish (萝卜 or 白萝卜)

9. add green seaweed powder (绿色紫菜粉 )

10. add 2nd definition to sesame oil (麻油 or 香油 )

11. add shrimp crackers (虾饼干 )

12. add 2nd definition to Sichuan preserved vegetable (mustard tuber) (榨菜 or 四川榨菜 )

13. add 2nd definition to snow peas (荷兰豆 or 雪豆)

14. add 2nd definition to star anise (八角 or 大料 )

15. starch

a. add 2nd definition: to corn flour/corn starch (玉米粉 or 太白粉 )

16. add red rice vinegar ( 红米醋 )

17. add winter melon (冬瓜 )

Do you agree/disagree with any or all of the above?

Have a good day, udscbt

liuzhou · May 22, 2013

For various reasons, I gave up on updating the Wikigullet list a long time ago. (See PM)

I did continue with an expanded version on my website here. It is still very much a work-in-progress although I only now add things sporadically (not because there isn't still a lot to add; just I get busy.)

Some of your suggestions have already been included (I think). I will look at the others when I have more time.

Thanks

Anna N · October 9, 2013

Reviving this old topic to ask if someone can identify this:

I am guessing it's a chile bean sauce of some kind but beyond that....

jameswilliam · October 9, 2013

I have a jar of Laoganma black bean sauce that looks like that (specified in Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice)

The label design is slightly different but from what I can see the characters are the same and contents look similar...

http://www.amazon.com/Lao-Black-Bean-Chilli-Sauce/dp/B0051D84GI

edit (actually that jar on amazon is slightly different - my one has the same characters in white across the top as yours)

Edited October 9, 2013 by jameswilliam (log)

Anna N · October 9, 2013

I have a jar of Laoganma black bean sauce that looks like that (specified in Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice)
The label design is slightly different but from what I can see the characters are the same and contents look similar...
http://www.amazon.com/Lao-Black-Bean-Chilli-Sauce/dp/B0051D84GI
edit (actually that jar on amazon is slightly different - my one has the same characters in white across the top as yours)

I have a suspicion that the many iterations of very similar labels are, in fact, different products. Hoping someone fluent in the language can chime in. Thanks for your input.

Beebs · October 9, 2013

I have this brand in my fridge, but it might not be the same kind as yours. Mine has crunchy bits in it - I think it has chili, shallot, garlic, Szechuan pepper. I've had the black bean one, but don't like it as much. My brother calls it "Old Dried-up Mother sauce". I use it as a condiment, or add it into whatever needs a slightly spicy kick (like peanut sauce or dipping sauce for last night's dumpling dinner....).

What are you planning to do with it?

Hassouni · October 9, 2013

Oh man, Laoganma stuff is like crack. I have the one Beebs mentioned, it's called "spicy chili crisp" in English. I use it with dumplings and as an all purpose spicy condiment alternative to plain chile oil or shichimi togarashi

Edited October 9, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

rotuts · October 9, 2013

very glad this has been revised!

liuzhou · October 9, 2013

It is a Lao Gan Ma (老干妈) chile sauce.

The black writing at the bottom reads 风味鸡油辣椒 which means "Tasty Chicken Fat Chile Sauce"

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