Back to the Edible Journey Through China
Glossary A Dream of Red Mansions | listen: mandarin .ra .wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A famous Chinese novel. |
Abalones | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Abalones are considered as tonics which are beneficial to our health. |
Admire the Full Moon | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Admiring the full moon is a traditional activity of the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival. |
Annual Family Gathering | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | On the last day of the Luna year, the Chinese usually have a large feast with their families. This is usually the biggest feast of the whole year. |
Bamboo Steamer | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | For storing dim sums. |
Beijing | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The capital city of China. |
Bird's Nests | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Bird's nests are considered as tonics which are beneficial to our health. |
Boiled Dumplings | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Also called Shui Jiao, boiled dumplings are cooked in boiling water, or boiling soup over high heat. |
Brown Rice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Unrefined Rice, in which the germ and outer layers (including the bran) have not been removed.. |
Cantonese Roast Pork | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A famous dish in south China. This special kind of roast pork is red in colour on the outside. |
Cha Dao | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Cha Dao is the art of preparing and making tea. |
Chin Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 265 A.D. - 420 A.D. |
Chinese Cleaver | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A utensil for cooking. |
Chinese Herbal Medicine | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Chinese herbal medicine is a study of the effects of plants on various parts of the body. |
Chinese New Year | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Chinese festival at the beginning of the new year in the lunar calendar. |
Chou Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 1027-771 B.C. |
Cold | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Cold, or "han" in chinese, is a term used in Chinese medicine. |
Congee | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Congee (also called jook in Cantonese), is a kind of watery rice gruel. It is like a Chinese version of porridge. The word conge comes from an Indian word 'kanji'. It means 'water in which the rice has been boiled'. |
Coolness | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Coolness, or "liang" in chinese, is a term used in Chinese medicine. |
Crime Without an Offense | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The accusation made by Qin Hui to Yue Fei due to Qin Hui's fear of losing his place in the palace. |
Crullers | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This famous snack is often eaten dipped in hot congee. Up in the north, the Chinese would prefer to dip the crullers into either sweet or salty soymilk. |
Detoxify Poison | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is a very common term used by the Chinese in describing the health properties of herbs. |
Dim Sum | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Dim Sum is a traditional Chinese cuisine in which bite-sized portions of a variety of foods, including an assortment of steamed or fried dumplings, are served in succession. (Literally, dim sum means "to touch the heart".) |
Dragon-Boat | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A dragon boat is a long, narrow canoe-like boat with a dragon's head at the front. It is used during the Tuen Ng Festival for festive competitions. |
Dried Scallops | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Dried are hard amber disks of dried white scallops. They are expensive and are used to sweeten and enhance the flavour of soups or added to stews. |
Du Fu | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. |
Enrich Blood | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | In Chinese Medicine, enriching the blood means to nourish the organs. Blood is created from the transformation of food.
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Expel Dampness | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is a very common term used by the Chinese in describing the health properties of herbs.
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Expel Heat | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is a very common term used by the Chinese in describing the health properties of herbs. |
Fermentation | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The chemical process of using yeast to convert sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol. |
Fish | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Chinese usually have fish on their Family Gathering at the end of each lunar year. They believe it will bring good luck for the coming year. |
Fried Dumplings | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Also called Guo Tie, fried dumplings are longer in size than boiled dumplings. The dumplings are fried in a pan with some oil, and then a little water is added to cook the dumplings. |
Frosty Mooncake | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is a new kind of mooncake which has a frosty, white coat, and is said to have less oil and fat than the traditional ones. |
Frying | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Frying is to cook over direct heat in hot oil or fat. |
Glutinous Rice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A kind of sticky rice which is useful for puddings, pastries and stuffings. |
Glutinous Rice Balls | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is a festive food of The Lantern Festival, in which it symbolizes peace and happiness and blessings for the whole family. |
Green Tea | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Green tea is steamed until soft, then rolled and dried over charcoal. It is not fermented. It reduces the risk of having lung, stomach or esophagal cancer. It also helps to reduce blood pressure. |
Gui Ling Gao | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Gui Ling Gao is considered as a tonic which is beneficial to our health. |
Han Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Western Han: 206 B.C.- 9 A.D. and Eastern Han: 25 - 220 A.D. |
Have You Eaten Your Rice Today | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A common greeting among the Chinese in everyday life. |
Heat | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Heat, or "jeh" in chinese, is a term used in Chinese medicine. |
Hou Ngai | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The name of the person who was believed to have shot down nine suns out of ten. |
Ingredients | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The food and garnishes etc. to be prepared before cooking. |
Jin Qian Gui | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Wealthy Turtle which is somtimes used for making Gui Ling Gao.
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Lantern | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Lanterns, especially paper lanterns, are played during the Mid-Autumn Festival / the Moon Festival. |
Lantern Festival | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Lantern Festival is on the 15th January of the lunar calendar. |
Li Bai | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. |
Liquor | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Liquor is also called Jiu in China, and was believed that it was invented by Du Kang during the Zhou Dynasty. |
Long Grain Rice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The most common type of rice used for cooking in China. |
Ma Po Bean Curd | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Ma Po Tou Fu is a popular Sichuan-style bean curd with minced or mashed pork. |
MaoTai | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A well-known brand of liquor in China, produced since hundreds of years ago in Maotai Town, Guizhou province. |
Marble Tea Egg | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | It is a kind of egg which is cooked in tea and made soft because of this process. |
Mid-Autumn Festival | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Mid-autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Mooncake is its most common festive food. It is also called the Moon Festival. |
Ming Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 1368 - 1644 A.D. |
Mooncake | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Mooncake is a traditional festive food eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival / the Moon Festival. |
Nian Gao | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The nian gao is a special kind of sticky cake which is eaten as a festive food during the Chinese New Year. |
Oolong Tea | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Oolong means "Black Dragon". It is slightly fermented and almost like green tea. The most famous oolong tea comes from Taiwan. |
Oysters | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Oysters are considered as tonics which are beneficial to our health. |
Peking Duck | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Peking Duck is a famous dish in north China. It is also called Beijing Kao Ya or Bukging Tien Ap. |
Pomelo | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A pomelo or a grapefruit is another festive food for the Mid-Autumn Festival / the Moon Festival. Its Chinese pronounciation, "you", sounds like the word for "protection". |
Qi | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | In Chinese Medicine, Qi is regarded as a form of "energy" in our bodies. |
Qin Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 221-207 B.C. |
Qin Hui | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The person who accused Yue Fei of "a crime without an offense". |
Qing Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 1644 - 1911 A.D. |
Qu Yuan | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | In the legend of the Dragon Boat Festival, Qu Yuan was believed to have drowned himself in a river. |
Red Rice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A very nutritious type of rice which becomes red during fermentation. It is also called Hongqu in Chinese. |
Rice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A kind of cereal grass in which its grain is starchy and edible. It is also the most important staple food of south China. |
Rice Cooker | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The electrical appliance used for cooking rice. |
Rice Dumplings | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A rice dumpling is a dumpling made of sticky rice wrapped around the stuffing inside. Then the whole thing is wrapped with lotus or bamboo leaves and cooked. It is the festive food of the Tuen Ng Festival. |
Romance of the Three Kingdoms | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A famous Chinese novel based on the history during the time when China was divided into three kingdoms, namely the Ngai, the Suk and the Ng Kingdoms in 220-280 A.D. |
Sand Pot | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | xxxxxxxxxxxxx |
Scented Tea | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Scented Tea is a mixture of green tea with flower petals of rose, jasmine, orchid and plum, and is very popular in Northern China. |
Sea Cucumbers | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Sea Cucumbers are considered as tonics which are beneficial to our health. |
Shang Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 1700-1027 B.C. |
Shanghai Sticky Rice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This yummy snack is actually a bit of cruller and some other fillings wrapped with glutinous rice. |
Shark Fins | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Shark Fins are considered as tonics which are beneficial to our health. |
Shen Nung | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | According to Chinese legend, Shen Nung was the Father of Agriculture. |
Sheung Ngor | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | According to legend, Sheung Ngor was Hou Ngai's wife who took a magic pill and flew to the moon. |
Song Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 960-1279 A.D. |
Soya Milk | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Soyamilk is known as dou jiang in Chinese. It has been a common drink among the Chinese since the second century B.C. It is an intermediate product resulted from tofu-making. |
Steamed Bread | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The steamed bread or Mantou is a famous kind of bread in the north. |
Steamed Dumplings | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Also called Zheng Jiao, steamed dumplings come in different shapes and a variety of different fillings, which makes it very popular. They are steamed in a steamer, and are very juicy. |
Sui Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 581 - 617 A.D. |
Sweet and Sour Pork | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A kind of famous food in south China. |
Tang Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 618 - 907 A.D. |
Tea | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | China's national beverage. |
The Encyclopedia on Chinese Herbal Medicine | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is the famous ancient compendium on Chinese Herbal Medicine written by Li Shi Zhan. |
Tonic | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A food which invigorates and strengthens different parts of the body. |
Tuen Ng Festival | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Tuen Ng Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar. It is also called the Dragon Boat Festival. |
Warmth | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Warmth, or "wen" in chinese, is a term used in Chinese medicine. |
Wash Bad Things Away | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | This is an old Chinese saying which means to "wash away" the "bad lucks" of last year so as to prepare for a whole new beginning of another year. |
Wine | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Wine is also called Jiu in China, and was especially popular during the Tang dynasty. |
Winter Solstice | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The Winter Solstice is when all the family members gather together for a feast. It is also known as the coldest day of the year accoring to the lunar calendar. |
Wok | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | A utensil for cooking. |
Xi Fan | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Xi Fan is the name of "thin congee" in the north of China, and it is usually plain congee. |
Xia Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 2000-1500 B.C |
Yang | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The positive, bright, and masculine side of nature according to Chinese Medicine. |
Yin | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The negative, dark, and feminine side of nature according to Chinese Medicine. |
Yuan Dynasty | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | 1279 - 1368 A.D. |
Yue Fei | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | The name of the famous Commander of the Chinese army against the Jin in 1142 A.D., who was being accused of a "crime without an offense" by the notorious Qin Hui. |
Yum Cha | listen: mandarin .ra.wav / cantonese .ra.wav | Yum Cha is the activity of tea drinking in tea houses or restaurants (yum is to drink and cha is tea). |
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