菜
cài
Pinyin

Definition

菜
 - 
cài
  1. dish (type of food)
  2. vegetable
  3. cuisine
  4. CL:盤|盘[pán],道[dào]
  5. (coll.) (one's) type
  6. (of one's skills etc) weak
  7. poor

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

菜
cài
  1. 1 dish (type of food)
  2. 2 vegetable
  3. 3 cuisine
  4. 4 CL:盤|盘[pán],道[dào]
  5. 5 (coll.) (one's) type
  6. 6 (of one's skills etc) weak
  7. 7 poor
菜刀
cài dāo
  1. 1 vegetable knife
  2. 2 kitchen knife
  3. 3 cleaver
  4. 4 CL:把[bǎ]
蔬菜
shū cài
  1. 1 vegetables
  2. 2 CL:種|种[zhǒng]
青菜
qīng cài
  1. 1 green vegetables
  2. 2 Chinese cabbage
上菜
shàng cài
  1. 1 to serve food
做菜
zuò cài
  1. 1 to cook
  2. 2 cooking
卷心菜
juǎn xīn cài
  1. 1 cabbage
  2. 2 CL:棵[kē]
大白菜
dà bái cài
  1. 1 bok choy
  2. 2 Chinese cabbage
  3. 3 Brassica pekinensis
  4. 4 CL:棵[kē]
家常菜
jiā cháng cài
  1. 1 home cooking
小菜
xiǎo cài
  1. 1 appetizer
  2. 2 small side dish
  3. 3 easy job
  4. 4 piece of cake
  5. 5 see also 小菜一碟[xiǎo cài yī dié]
小菜一碟
xiǎo cài yī dié
  1. 1 a small appetizer
  2. 2 a piece of cake; very easy (idiom)
川菜
Chuān cài
  1. 1 Sichuan or Szechuan cuisine
榨菜
zhà cài
  1. 1 hot pickled mustard tuber
油菜
yóu cài
  1. 1 oilseed rape (Brassica napus)
  2. 2 flowering edible rape (Brassica chinensis var. oleifera)
泡菜
pào cài
  1. 1 pickled cabbage
炒菜
chǎo cài
  1. 1 to stir-fry
  2. 2 to do the cooking
  3. 3 stir-fried dish
生菜
shēng cài
  1. 1 lettuce
  2. 2 raw fresh vegetables
  3. 3 greens
白菜
bái cài
  1. 1 Chinese cabbage
  2. 2 pak choi
  3. 3 CL:棵[kē], 個|个[gè]
素菜
sù cài
  1. 1 vegetable dish
紫菜
zǐ cài
  1. 1 flavored roasted seaweed
  2. 2 generic term for edible seaweed
  3. 3 Japanese: nori

Idioms (7)

小菜一碟
xiǎo cài yī dié
  1. 1 a small appetizer
  2. 2 a piece of cake; very easy (idiom)
捡到篮里就是菜
jiǎn dào lán lǐ jiù shì cài
  1. 1 all is grist that comes to the mill (idiom)
看人下菜碟儿
kàn rén xià cài dié r5
  1. 1 (dialect) to treat sb according to their social status, relationship with them etc (idiom)
  2. 2 not to treat everyone equally favorably
看菜吃饭
kān cài chī fàn
  1. 1 to eat depending on the dish (idiom); fig. to act according to actual circumstances
  2. 2 to live within one's means
看菜吃饭，量体裁衣
kān cài chī fàn , liáng tǐ cái yī
  1. 1 eat depending on the dish, cut cloth according to the body (idiom); to fit the appetite to the dishes and the dress to the figure
  2. 2 to act according to actual circumstances
  3. 3 to live within one's means
萝卜白菜，各有所爱
luó bo bái cài , gè yǒu suǒ ài
  1. 1 one man's meat is another man's poison (idiom)
  2. 2 to each his own
黄花菜都凉了
huáng huā cài dōu liáng le
  1. 1 lit. the dishes are cold (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to arrive late
  3. 3 to take one's sweet time

Sample Sentences

生菜
shēngcài
Lecttuce
Go to Lesson 
加菜
jiācài
to add another dish
Go to Lesson 
来一杯，有菜单吗？
lái yī bēi ，yǒu càidān ma ？
I'll get one, do you have a menu?
Go to Lesson 
我又想吃酸菜鱼了。
wǒ yòu xiǎng chī suāncàiyú le 。
I feel like eating fish with pickles again.
Go to Lesson 
这是这家的招牌菜，你尝尝。
zhèshì zhè jiā de zhāopáicài ，nǐ cháng cháng 。
This is the restaurant’s signature dish. Give it a try.
Go to Lesson 
这道菜很好吃，你试试。
zhè dào cài hěn hǎochī ，nǐ shì shì 。
This dish is delicious. Give it a try.
Go to Lesson 
我点了几道菜，不知道大家吃得习不习惯。
wǒ diǎn le jǐ dào cài ，bù zhīdào dàjiā chī de Xí bù xíguàn 。
I've ordered several dishes. I am not sure if this is your usual.
Go to Lesson 
所以每次当我们吃进柠檬、梅子、酸菜等酸的食物的时候，大脑就会下达指令分泌大量的唾液。
suǒyǐ měicì dāng wǒmen chī jìn níngméng 、méizi 、suāncài děng suān de shíwù de shíhou ，dànǎo jiù huì xiàdá zhǐlìng fēnmì dàliàng de tuòyè 。
As a result, when we are eating lemon, plum, pickled cabbage or other sorts of sour food, our brain would give orders to secrete a big amount of saliva.
Go to Lesson 
萝卜青菜各有所爱吧，总之我还是爱吃原汁原味的中国菜。
luóboqīngcàigèyǒusuǒài ba ，zǒngzhī wǒ háishi ài chī yuánzhīyuánwèi de Zhōngguó cài 。
To each his own, for me I still love truly authentic Chinese food.
Go to Lesson 
咱们一道菜可能运用到：煎，炸，煮蒸许多种方法，差之毫厘，那可都是失之千里呀。
zánmen yī dào cài kěnéng yùnyòng dào ：jiān ，zhá ，zhǔ zhēng xǔduō zhǒng fāngfǎ ，chāzhīháolí ，nà kě dōu shì shīzhīqiānlǐ ya 。
One dish in China can be fried, deep fried, cooked, steamed, a small difference can make a large difference.
Go to Lesson