葱 (cōng) · scallion; green onion

Measure Word

一根葱 gēn

Meanings

1 scallion; green onion

About the ingredient

蔬菜 Vegetables

Covers both the thin scallion (小葱) and the thick 大葱, which in Shandong and the northeast is eaten raw, rolled in pancakes. Chopped scallion, 葱花, is scattered over noodles, soups and finished dishes.

Used in 32 dishes

黄桥烧饼 Huángqiáo shāobing

小葱拌豆腐 xiǎocōngbàndòufu

清蒸武昌鱼 qīngzhēng Wǔchāngyú

豉油皇炒面 chǐyóuhuáng chǎomiàn

鸡卷 jījuǎn

Characters

葱

cōng

scallion; green onion

Examples

HSK 5

炒菜的时候加点葱。

Chǎocài de shíhou jiā diǎn cōng.

Add some scallions when stir-frying.

HSK 6

这道汤撒上葱花就好了。

Zhè dào tāng sǎ shàng cōnghuā jiù hǎo le.

Just sprinkle some chopped scallions on this soup.

Tips

culture

Scallions are one of the most essential ingredients in Chinese cooking, used as garnish, base flavor, and aromatics. 葱姜蒜 (scallion, ginger, garlic) are the holy trinity of Chinese cooking.

Components

radical

艹 cǎo

grass; plant (top radical)

Top grass radical (Kangxi #140 in its 3-stroke compressed form) - two tufts of sprouting grass. Indexes 葱 in the plant family with 花 flower, 草 grass, 菜 vegetable, 葡 grape. 葱 names the green onion (scallion), a slender vegetable stalk, so the radical names the category precisely.

phonetic

怱 cōng

hurried (variant of 匆)

Lower 怱 - orthographic variant of 匆 with 心 'heart' written underneath instead of a single stroke. Supplies the sound cōng without shift. Same phonetic family in 葱 onion, 聪 clever-eared, 囱 chimney. The 心 element below is purely a graphic feature of this variant; it carries no semantic load in 葱.