香菜 (xiāngcài) · coriander, cilantro

Meanings

1 coriander
2 cilantro

About the ingredient

蔬菜 Vegetables

Fresh coriander, leaves and stems. Heat wilts it, so it is chopped and scattered over soups and finished dishes, or dressed cold. Some people find it tastes of soap; to have it left out, say 不要香菜.

Also called 芫荽

Used in 18 dishes

手撕鸡 shǒusījī

牛肉面 niúròumiàn

小炒黄牛肉 xiǎochǎo huángniúròu

孜然羊肉 zīrán yángròu

西湖牛肉羹 Xīhú niúròugēng

酸辣蕨根粉 suānlà juégēnfěn

牛肉粉丝汤 niúròu fěnsītāng

狼牙土豆 lángyá tǔdòu

山竹牛肉球 shānzhú niúròuqiú

担仔面 dànzǎimiàn

Characters

Examples

HSK 1

我不能吃香菜。

Wǒ bù néng chī xiāngcài.

I can't eat cilantro.

HSK 6

汤里撒点香菜会更香。

Tāng lǐ sǎ diǎn xiāngcài huì gèng xiāng.

Sprinkling some cilantro in the soup makes it more fragrant.

Tips

culture

Whether to love or hate 香菜 is a famously polarizing question in China; there's even a "Cilantro Hater's Association" (反香菜联盟) online. The genetic aversion is real: some people perceive cilantro as soapy due to an olfactory receptor variant. When ordering, 不要香菜 (no cilantro please) is a useful phrase.