茭白 (jiāobái) · water bamboo (edible swollen stem of…

Measure Word

一根茭白 gēn

Meanings

1 water bamboo (edible swollen stem of Manchurian wild rice, Zizania latifolia)
2 jiaobai

About the ingredient

蔬菜 Vegetables · In season: autumn

The swollen stem of a wild rice plant, peeled from its green husk: white, crisp and juicy, tasting like fresh bamboo shoot. Usually sliced and stir-fried. Black specks in older stems come from the fungus that swells it.

Also called 茭笋

Characters

茭

jiāo

(in 茭白) wild rice / water bamboo

白

bái

white

Examples

HSK 7-9

茭白炒肉丝是江南家常菜。

Jiāobái chǎo ròusī shì Jiāngnán jiāchángcài.

Stir-fried water bamboo with shredded pork is a home-style dish from the lower Yangtze.

HSK 7-9

夏天的茭白最嫩最甜。

Xiàtiān de jiāobái zuì nèn zuì tián.

Summer water bamboo is the most tender and sweetest.

Tips

culture

Despite the name, not bamboo at all. The plant is 菰 (gū), a wetland grass; when infected by a smut fungus, the base swells into a pale, crisp, mildly sweet stem - that swollen part is 茭白. A Jiangnan summer staple, especially in Suzhou and Shanghai cooking.