Reading Chinese Menus: Characters: 香 — xiāng — fragrance (Reply) | Adventures with Kake

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香

I mentioned 香 (xiāng) in one of my very first posts here, on 魚香茄子 (yú xiāng qié zi). The primary meaning of 香 is "fragrant", and indeed 魚香茄子 is often translated as "fish-fragrant aubergine".

According to Gong Dan's Food & Drink in China, fragrance in Chinese cooking implies more than that which the nose can detect directly; it includes the freshness of the raw ingredients used, the blend of seasonings, and the proximity of a dish in terms of seconds from the cooking pot.

香 forms part of several words used on Chinese menus, such as 香菇 (xiāng gū/shiitake mushrooms), 香油 (xiāng yóu/sesame oil) and 五香 (wǔ xiāng/five-spice). Note that sesame oil has other, more literal names too, such as 麻油 (má yóu) and 芝麻油 (zhī ma yóu).

Here are some dishes with 香 in the name:

魚香肉絲	yú xiāng ròu sī	fish-fragrant [魚香] slivered [絲] pork [肉]
五香牛肉	wǔ xiāng niú ròu	five-spice beef
飄香辣子雞	piāo xiāng là zi jī	"drifting fragrance" chicken with chillies
香辣豆花	xiāng là dòu huā	fragrant-and-hot [香辣] "flower" beancurd (very soft beancurd) [豆花]
香辣豬脆腸	xiāng là zhū cuì cháng	fragrant [香] spicy [辣] crispy [脆] pig [豬] intestine [腸]
香菇雞包子	xiāng gū jī bāo zi	bao filled with chicken and shiitake mushrooms
香酥鴨	xiāng sū yā	crispy [酥] aromatic [香] duck [鴨]

香:	xiāng	radical 186 (香)	Cantodict	MandarinTools	YellowBridge	Zhongwen

Characters mentioned in this post:

豆/dòu (bean),
花/huā) (flower),
雞/jī (chicken),
牛/niú (beef),
茄/qié (aubergine),
肉/ròu (meat),
絲/sī (thread/fibre/shred),
五/wǔ (five)

Other related posts:

If you have any questions or corrections, please leave a comment (here's how) and let me know (or email me at kake@earth.li). See my introductory post to the Chinese menu project for what these posts are all about.

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