Chinese cuisine/Cantonese cuisine/Buddha's delight

羅漢齋 i lo4 hon3 jaai1 lô-hàn-tsai Luohan vegetarian food 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 (罗汉菜 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. Tradition 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 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 Commonly used main ingredients Arrowhead (慈菇; pinyin: cí gū)http://archives.starbulletin.com/1998/01/14/features/story1.html Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features Archives.starbulletin.com 2009-04-30 Bamboo fungus (竹笙, pinyin: zhúshēng or 竹荪; pinyin: zhúsūn) Bamboo shoots (simplified: 笋; traditional; 筍; pinyin: sǔn)Lin Florence Florence Lin's Chinese Vegetarian Cookbook https://books.google.com/books?id=DNw9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA104 29 July 2013 1976 Shambhala 978-0-87773-252-5 104 Bean curd sticks (腐竹; pinyin: fǔ zhú; also called "tofu bamboo") Black mushrooms (冬菇; pinyin: dōnggū) Carrot (traditional: 胡蘿蔔; simplified: 胡萝卜, pinyin: hú luóbo; or traditional: 紅蘿蔔; simplified: 红萝卜, pinyin: hóng luóbo) Cellophane noodles (粉絲; pinyin: fěn sī; also called "bean threads") Daylily buds (金针; pinyin: jīnzhēn; also called "golden needles") Fat choy (traditional: 髮菜; simplified: 发菜; pinyin: fàcài; a black hair-like cyanobacteria)Young Grace The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing https://books.google.com/books?id=yOTVwyCfccEC&pg=PA126 29 July 2013 5 May 1999 Simon & Schuster 978-0-684-84739-9 126 Ginkgo nuts (traditional: 銀杏; simplified: 银杏, pinyin: yín xìng; or 白果, pinyin: bái guǒ) Lotus seeds (蓮子; pinyin: liánzǐ)http://ginkgopages.blogspot.com/2006/01/jai-delight-in-chinese-new-year.html The Ginkgo Pages Forum - Blog: Jai a delight in the Chinese new year Ginkgopages.blogspot.com 2006-01-26 2009-04-30 Napa cabbage (大白菜; pinyin: dà báicài) Peanuts (花生; pinyin: huāshēng) Snow peas (traditional: 荷蘭豆; simplified: 荷兰豆; pinyin: hélándòu)Hsiung Deh-Ta Simonds Nina Food of China https://books.google.com/books?id=-9XWQrpbLAgC&pg=PA204 29 July 2013 1 June 2005 Murdoch Books 978-1-74045-463-6 204 Fried tofu (炸豆腐; pinyin: zhá dòufǔ) Water chestnuts (traditional: 荸薺; simplified: 荸荠; pinyin: bíqí) Fried or braised wheat gluten (traditional: 麵筋, simplified: 面筋; pinyin: miàn jīn) Wood ear (木耳; pinyin: mù ěr; also called black fungus) Less commonly used main ingredients Bean sprouts (豆芽, pinyin: dòu yá; 芽菜, pinyin: yá cài; or 银芽, pinyin: yín yá) 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)http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/9370/buddhas+delight Buddha's Delight Recipe Taste.com.au 2009-04-30 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), osmanthus ear fungus (桂花耳; pinyin: guíhuā ěr), snow fungus (银耳; pinyin: yín ěr),Hsiung Deh-Ta The Chinese Kitchen: A Book of Essential Ingredients with Over 200 Easy and Authentic Recipes https://books.google.com/books?id=fsJvn_9qctwC&pg=PA193 29 July 2013 19 February 2002 St. Martin's Press 978-0-312-28894-5 193 and yellow fungus (黃耳; pinyin: huáng ěr; literally "yellow ear") See also: List of Chinese mushrooms and fungi. Red jujubes (traditional: 紅棗; simplified: 红枣; pinyin: hóng zǎo) Lotus root (藕; pinyin: ǒu)Hu Shiu-Ying Food Plants of China https://books.google.com/books?id=2OiYydyrsygC&pg=RA1-PA69 29 July 2013 2005 Chinese University Press 978-962-996-229-6 1 Other types of mushrooms, including straw mushrooms (草菇, pinyin: cǎo gū), oyster mushrooms (平菇, pinyin: píng gū), and Tricholoma mushrooms (口蘑, pinyin: kǒu mó) Dried oysters (蠔豉; pinyin: háo shì) Potato (马铃薯; pinyin: mălíng shǔ) Quail eggs (鹌鹑蛋; pinyin: ān chún dàn) Shrimp (traditional: 蝦; simplified: 虾; pinyin: xiā) Laminaria Cornflower buds Baby corn Seasonings Chinese cooking wine (黃酒; pinyin: huáng jiǔ)http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Buddhas-Delight-233790 Buddha's Delight Recipe at Epicurious.com 2009-04-30 Garlic (大蒜; pinyin: dà suàn) Ginger (simplified: 姜; traditional: 薑; pinyin: jiāng) Monosodium glutamate (味精; pinyin: wèijīng) Oil (usually peanut, 花生油; and/or sesame, 芝麻油) Oyster sauce (simplified: 蚝油; traditional: 蠔油; pinyin: háo yóu) Pickled tofu (豆腐乳; pinyin: dòufu rǔ; both red and white) Salt (traditional: 鹽; simplified: 盐; pinyin: yán) Soy sauce (老抽; pinyin: lǎochōu) Starch (淀粉; pinyin: diànfěn) Sugar (糖; pinyin: táng)