Chinese word

荤菜

Pronunciation

Pinyinhūn cài

Meaning

  • nounmeat dish

Example

这家店的荤菜很好吃。zhè jiā diàn de hūn cài hěn hǎo chī

The meat dishes at this restaurant are delicious.

Illustration for 荤菜 (meat dish)

More examples

我家晚饭常有荤菜和素菜。wǒ jiā wǎn fàn cháng yǒu hūn cài hé sù cài

Our family often has meat dishes and vegetable dishes for dinner.

Core concept

A food category groups prepared dishes around animal-derived ingredients, forming the non-vegetarian side of a menu.

Common phrases

  • 吃荤菜chī hūn cài

    eat meat dishes

  • 点荤菜diǎn hūn cài

    order meat dishes

  • 不吃荤菜bù chī hūn cài

    not eat meat dishes

Similar words

荤食hūn shí: Food made with animal-based ingredients, whether served as a dish or eaten in another form.
素菜sù cài: A cooked dish prepared mainly from vegetables and other plant-based foods.

Definition in Chinese

以动物性食材为主或含有肉、禽、鱼、虾等成分的菜肴，作为与不含肉的素菜相对的分类称为荤菜。yǐ dòng wù xìng shí cái wéi zhǔ huò hán yǒu ròu qín yú xiā děng chéng fèn de cài yáo zuò wéi yǔ bù hán ròu de sù cài xiāng duì de fēn lèi chēng wéi hūn cài

Word origin

荤 (hūn, "pungent or animal-based food") + 菜 (cài, "cooked dish") forms a compound that came to name dishes made with animal-based ingredients.

Usage tips

  • English-speaking diners may reserve "meat" for land-animal flesh, while Chinese food labels use this category more broadly, so the difference matters when reading menus.

Other meanings

  • non-vegetarian dishnoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word