香草 (xiāngcǎo) · vanilla, herb, fragrant plant

Meanings

1 vanilla
2 herb
3 fragrant plant

About the ingredient

调料 Seasonings

The vanilla flavour of ice cream, cakes, custards and coffee drinks, from cured vanilla pods or, far more often, synthetic vanillin. It flavours sweet foods and drinks, not savoury cooking.

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

花园里种了各种香草。

Huāyuán lǐ zhòng le gèzhǒng xiāngcǎo.

Various herbs are planted in the garden.

HSK 5

我要一个香草冰淇淋。

Wǒ yào yí ge xiāngcǎo bīngqílín.

I'd like a vanilla ice cream.

HSK 5

这道菜用了很多香草调味。

Zhè dào cài yòng le hěn duō xiāngcǎo tiáowèi.

This dish uses many herbs for seasoning.

Tips

usage

香草 has two main meanings: 'vanilla' (as a flavor, especially in 香草冰淇淋) and 'herbs/fragrant plants' in general. Context usually makes the meaning clear.

history

In classical Chinese poetry, 香草 (fragrant plants) was a metaphor for virtuous people, famously used by the poet Qu Yuan in his work Lisao (离骚).