Buddha's delight, often transliterated as Luóhàn zhāi, lo han jai, or lo hon jai, is a vegetarian dish well known in Chinese and Buddhist cuisine. It is sometimes also called Luóhàn cài (simplified Chinese: 罗汉菜; traditional Chinese: 羅漢菜).
The dish is traditionally enjoyed by Buddhist monks who are vegetarians, but it has also grown in popularity throughout the world as a common dish available as a vegetarian option in Chinese restaurants. The dish consists of various vegetables and other vegetarian ingredients (sometimes with the addition of seafood or eggs), which are cooked in soy sauce-based liquid with other seasonings until tender. The specific ingredients used vary greatly both inside and outside Asia.
[edit] Etymology
In the name luóhàn zhāi, luóhàn – short for Ā luóhàn (simplified Chinese: 阿罗汉; traditional Chinese: 阿羅漢; pinyin: Ā LuóHàn) – is the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit arhat, meaning an enlightened, ascetic individual or the Buddha himself. Zhāi (simplified Chinese: 斋; traditional Chinese: 齋; pinyin: zhāi) means "vegetarian food" or "vegetarian diet."
The dish is usually made with at least 10 ingredients, although more elaborate versions may comprise 18 or even 35 ingredients.[1] If 18 ingredients are used, the dish is called Luóhàn quánzhāi (simplified: 罗汉全斋; traditional: 羅漢全齋).
In China, Hong Kong and Toronto, when served exclusively using only the most flavor-packed vegetarian ingredients, such as pickled tofu or sweet bean curds, it is known as tián suān zhāi (simplified Chinese: 甜酸斋; traditional Chinese: 甜酸齋; pinyin: tian2 suan1 zhai1; literally "sweet and sour vegetarian dish").
[edit] Tradition
As suggested by its name, it is a dish traditionally enjoyed by Buddhists who are vegetarians, but it has also grown in popularity throughout the world as a common dish available in Chinese restaurants (though often not including all of the ingredients) as a vegetarian option. It is traditionally served in Chinese households on the first day of the Chinese New Year, stemming from the old Buddhist practice that one should maintain a vegetarian diet in the first five days of the new year, as a form of self-purification. Some of the rarer ingredients, such as fat choy and arrowhead, are generally only eaten at this time of year.
[edit] Ingredients
The following is a list of ingredients often used in Buddha's delight, each of which, according to Chinese tradition, is ascribed a particular auspicious significance. As the dish varies from chef to chef and family to family, not every ingredient is always used in every version of the dish.
[edit] Main ingredients
[edit] Commonly used main ingredients
- Arrowhead (慈菇; pinyin: cí gū)[2]
- Bamboo fungus (竹笙, pinyin: zhúshēng or 竹荪; pinyin: zhúsūn)[2]
- Bamboo shoots (simplified: 笋; traditional; 筍; pinyin: sǔn)[3]
- Bean curd sticks (腐竹; pinyin: fǔ zhú; also called "tofu bamboo")[2]
- Black mushrooms (冬菇; pinyin: dōnggū)[2]
- Carrot (traditional: 胡蘿蔔; simplified: 胡萝卜, pinyin: hú luóbo; or traditional: 紅蘿蔔; simplified: 红萝卜, pinyin: hóng luóbo)[3]
- Cellophane noodles (粉絲; pinyin: fěn sī; also called "bean threads")[3]
- Daylily buds (金针; pinyin: jīnzhēn; also called "golden needles")[2]
- Fat choy (traditional: 髮菜; simplified: 发菜; pinyin: fàcài; a black hair-like cyanobacteria)[4]
- Ginkgo nuts (traditional: 銀杏; simplified: 银杏, pinyin: yín xìng; or 白果, pinyin: bái guǒ)[5]
- Lotus seeds (蓮子; pinyin: liánzǐ)[6]
- Napa cabbage (大白菜; pinyin: dà báicài)[5]
- Peanuts (花生; pinyin: huāshēng)[2]
- Snow peas (traditional: 荷蘭豆; simplified: 荷兰豆; pinyin: hélándòu)[7]
- Fried tofu (炸豆腐; pinyin: zhá dòufǔ)[2]
- Water chestnuts (traditional: 荸薺; simplified: 荸荠; pinyin: bíqí)[2]
- Fried or braised wheat gluten (traditional: 麵筋, simplified: 面筋; pinyin: miàn jīn)[7]
- Wood ear (木耳; pinyin: mù ěr; also called black fungus)[3]
[edit] Less commonly used main ingredients
- Bean sprouts (豆芽, pinyin: dòu yá; 芽菜, pinyin: yá cài; or 银芽, pinyin: yín yá)[7]
- Bracken fern tips (蕨菜; pinyin: jué cài)
- Bok choy (白菜; pinyin: báicài)
- Cauliflower (菜花; pinyin: cài huā)
- Chinese celery (芹菜; pinyin: qín cài)[8]
- Other types of fungus, including cloud ear fungus (traditional: 雲耳; simplified: 云耳; pinyin: yún ěr), elm ear fungus (榆耳; pinyin: yú ěr),[1] osmanthus ear fungus (桂花耳; pinyin: guíhuā ěr),[1] snow fungus (银耳; pinyin: yín ěr),[9] and yellow fungus (黃耳; pinyin: huáng ěr; literally "yellow ear")[1]
- Red jujubes (traditional: 紅棗; simplified: 红枣; pinyin: hóng zǎo)[6]
- Lotus root (藕; pinyin: ǒu)[10]
- Other types of mushrooms, including straw mushrooms (草菇, pinyin: cǎo gū),[10] oyster mushrooms (平菇, pinyin: píng gū), and Tricholoma mushrooms (口蘑, pinyin: kǒu mó)
- Dried oysters (蠔豉; pinyin: háo shì)[2]
- Potato (马铃薯; pinyin: mălíng shǔ)
- Quail eggs (鹌鹑蛋; pinyin: ān chún dàn)
- Shrimp (traditional: 蝦; simplified: 虾; pinyin: xiā)
- Laminaria[10]
- Cornflower buds[10]
- Baby corn[9]
[edit] Seasonings
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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