Buddha's delight
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| Alternative names | Luóhàn zhāi, lo han jai, lo hon jai, Luóhàn cài |
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| Course | Main dishes |
| Place of origin | China |
| Main ingredients | various vegetables, soy sauce |
 Cookbook: Buddha's delight  Media: Buddha's delight |
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| Buddha's delight | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 羅漢齋 or 齋 | ||||||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 罗汉斋 or 斋 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Luohan vegetarian food | ||||||||||||||
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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.
Contents
Etymology[edit]
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").
Tradition[edit]
As suggested by its name, it is a dish traditionally enjoyed by Buddhists, 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.
Ingredients[edit]
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.
Main ingredients[edit]
Commonly used main ingredients[edit]
- 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)[4]
- Lotus seeds (蓮子; pinyin: liánzǐ)[5]
- Napa cabbage (大白菜; pinyin: dà báicài)[4]
- Peanuts (花生; pinyin: huāshēng)[2]
- Snow peas (traditional: 荷蘭豆; simplified: 荷兰豆; pinyin: hélándòu)[6]
- 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)[6]
- Wood ear (木耳; pinyin: mù ěr; also called black fungus)[3]
Less commonly used main ingredients[edit]
- Bean sprouts (豆芽, pinyin: dòu yá; 芽菜, pinyin: yá cài; or 银芽, pinyin: yín yá)[6]
- 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)[7]
- 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),[8] and yellow fungus (黃耳; pinyin: huáng ěr; literally "yellow ear")[1]
- Red jujubes (traditional: 紅棗; simplified: 红枣; pinyin: hóng zǎo)[5]
- Lotus root (藕; pinyin: ǒu)[9]
- Other types of mushrooms, including straw mushrooms (草菇, pinyin: cǎo gū),[9] 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[9]
- Cornflower buds[9]
- Baby corn[8]
Seasonings[edit]
- Chinese cooking wine (黃酒; pinyin: huáng jiǔ)[10]
- Garlic (大蒜; pinyin: dà suàn)[9]
- Ginger (simplified: 姜; traditional: 薑; pinyin: jiāng)[9]
- Monosodium glutamate (味精; pinyin: wèijīng)[3]
- Oil (usually peanut, 花生油; and/or sesame, 芝麻油)
- Oyster sauce (simplified: 蚝油; traditional: 蠔油; pinyin: háo yóu)[4]
- Pickled tofu (豆腐乳; pinyin: dòufu rǔ; both red and white)[3]
- Salt (traditional: 鹽; simplified: 盐; pinyin: yán)[11]
- Soy sauce (老抽; pinyin: lǎochōu)[3]
- Starch (淀粉; pinyin: diànfěn)
- Sugar (糖; pinyin: táng)[3]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2008-02-10. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved 2012-08-22.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features". Archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lin, Florence (1976). Florence Lin's Chinese Vegetarian Cookbook. Shambhala. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-87773-252-5. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d Young, Grace (5 May 1999). The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing. Simon & Schuster. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-684-84739-9. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ a b "The Ginkgo Pages Forum - Blog: Jai a delight in the Chinese new year". Ginkgopages.blogspot.com. 2006-01-26. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ a b c Hsiung, Deh-Ta; Simonds, Nina (1 June 2005). Food of China. Murdoch Books. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-74045-463-6. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "Buddha's Delight Recipe". Taste.com.au. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ a b Hsiung, Deh-Ta (19 February 2002). The Chinese Kitchen: A Book of Essential Ingredients with Over 200 Easy and Authentic Recipes. St. Martin's Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-312-28894-5. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Hu, Shiu-Ying (2005). Food Plants of China. Chinese University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-962-996-229-6. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "Buddha's Delight Recipe at". Epicurious.com. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ Lin, Florence (1976). Florence Lin's Chinese Vegetarian Cookbook. Shambhala. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-87773-252-5. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
External links[edit]
- Recipe, chinesefood.about.com
- Article about Buddha's Delight
- "What is Buddha's Delight?", by Chelsie Vandaveer
- Article about jai (Buddha's delight) from Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- Buddha's delight recipe
- Detailed article about Buddha's delight (Chinese)
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