vegetable / Meat
菜· cai
fresh
Taste & Role
🍯 Sweet
Vegetables provide the fresh, balancing counterpoint to meat and rice in Chinese meals, whether quickly stir-fried with garlic, braised, pickled, or simmered into soups.
What it is
Cai is the general Chinese word for vegetables, and in everyday speech it also refers to a cooked dish or the vegetable portion of a meal. Rather than naming one specific plant, it covers the broad range of leafy greens, cabbages, and other fresh produce used in Chinese home cooking.
Substitutes
No registered substitutes — this one is usually easy to find.
Recipes using it
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