Buddha's delight, often

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

as ''Luóhàn zhāi'', ''lo han jai'', or ''lo hon jai'', is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

dish well known in Chinese and

Buddhist cuisine Buddhist cuisine is an Asian cuisine that is followed by monks and many believers from areas historically influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. It is vegetarian or vegan, and it is based on the Dharmic concept of ahimsa (non-violence). Vegetarianism ...

. It is sometimes also called ''Luóhàn cài'' (). The dish is traditionally enjoyed by

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

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 Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

-based liquid with other seasonings until tender. The specific ingredients used vary greatly both inside and outside Asia.

Etymology

In the name ''luóhàn zhāi'', ''luóhàn'' – short for ''Ā luóhàn'' () – is the Chinese transliteration of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

arhat In Buddhism, an ''arhat'' (Sanskrit: अर्हत्) or ''arahant'' (Pali: अरहन्त्, 𑀅𑀭𑀳𑀦𑁆𑀢𑁆) is one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence and has achieved ''Nirvana'' and liberated ...

'', meaning an enlightened, ascetic individual or the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

himself. ''Zhāi'' () means "vegetarian food" or "vegetarian diet." The dish is usually made with at least 10 ingredients, although more elaborate versions may comprise 18 or even 35 ingredients. If 18 ingredients are used, the dish is called ''luóhàn quánzhāi'' (simplified: 罗汉全斋; traditional: 羅漢全齋; Jyutping: ''lo4hon3 cyun4zaai1''). In

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

, when served exclusively using only the most flavor-packed vegetarian ingredients, such as pickled tofu or sweet bean curds, it is known as ''tián suān zhāi'' (; literally "sweet and sour vegetarian dish"). Screenshot of dishes offered by Qibao Buddist Temple

Screenshot of dishes offered by Qibao Buddist Temple

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 Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () a ...

, 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 Fat choy (; ''Nostoc flagelliforme'') is a terrestrial cyanobacterium (a type of photosynthetic bacteria) that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine. When dried, the product has the appearance of black hair. For that reason, its name in ...

and

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

, are generally only eaten at this time of year. Traditionally eggs and dairy are not permitted.

Allium ''Allium'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes hundreds of species, including the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. The generic name ''Allium'' is the Latin word for garlic,Gledhill, D ...

s and some other vegetables (''wǔ hūn'') are not used in Buddha's delight, as they are frowned upon in

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 An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

(慈菇 or 茨菰; pinyin: cígū) * Bamboo fungus (竹笙, pinyin: zhúshēng or 竹荪; pinyin: zhúsūn) * Bamboo shoots (simplified: 笋; traditional; 筍; pinyin: sǔn) * Bean curd sticks (腐竹; pinyin: fǔzhú; also called "tofu bamboo") * Black mushrooms (冬菇; pinyin: dōnggū) *

Carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...

(traditional: 胡蘿蔔; simplified: 胡萝卜, pinyin: hú luóbo; or traditional: 紅蘿蔔; simplified: 红萝卜, pinyin: hóng luóbo; Jyutping: hung4 lo4baak6) *

Cellophane noodles Cellophane noodles, or fensi (), sometimes called glass noodles, are a type of transparent noodle made from starch (such as mung bean starch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca, or canna starch) and water. A stabilizer such as chitosan ...

(粉絲; pinyin: fěnsī; also called "bean threads") * Daylily buds (金针; pinyin: jīnzhēn; also called "golden needles") *

Fat choy Fat choy (; ''Nostoc flagelliforme'') is a terrestrial cyanobacterium (a type of photosynthetic bacteria) that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine. When dried, the product has the appearance of black hair. For that reason, its name in ...

(traditional: 髮菜; simplified: 发菜; pinyin: fàcài; a black hair-like

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, bl ...

) *

Ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus with ...

nuts (traditional: 銀杏; simplified: 银杏, pinyin: yínxìng; or 白果, pinyin: báiguǒ) * Lotus seeds (蓮子; pinyin: liánzǐ) *

Napa cabbage Napa cabbage (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''pekinensis'' or ''Brassica rapa'' Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China that is widely used in East Asian cuisine. Since the 20th century, it has als ...

(大白菜; pinyin: dà báicài) *

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small an ...

s (花生; pinyin: huāshēng) * Snow peas (traditional: 荷蘭豆; simplified: 荷兰豆; pinyin: hélán-dòu) *Fried

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...

(炸豆腐; pinyin: zhá dòufǔ) *

Water chestnut Water chestnut may refer to either of two plants (both sometimes used in Chinese cuisine): * The Chinese water chestnut ('' Eleocharis dulcis''), eaten for its crisp corm * The water caltrop The water caltrop is any of three extant species of th ...

s (traditional: 荸薺; simplified: 荸荠; pinyin: bíqí) *Fried or

braised Braising (from the French word ''braiser'') is a combination-cooking method that uses both wet and dry heats: typically, the food is first browned at a high temperature, then simmered in a covered pot in cooking liquid (such as wine, broth, coc ...

wheat gluten (traditional: 麵筋, simplified: 面筋; pinyin: miànjīn) * Wood ear (木耳; pinyin: mù ěr; also called black fungus)

Less commonly used main ingredients

* Bean sprouts (豆芽, pinyin: dòuyá; 芽菜, pinyin: yácài; or 银芽, pinyin: yínyá) * Bracken fern tips (蕨菜; pinyin: juécài) *

Bok choy Bok choy (American English, Canadian English, and Australian English), pak choi (British English) or pok choi (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''chinensis'') is a type of Chinese cabbage, used as food. ''Chinensis'' varieties do not form heads and have g ...

(白菜; pinyin: báicài) *

Cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – t ...

(菜花; pinyin: cài huā) * Chinese celery (芹菜; pinyin: qín cài) *Other types of fungus, including

cloud ear fungus ''Auricularia cornea'' (毛木耳, maomuer or cloud ear) is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China. The species was previously referred to ''Auricularia polytricha'', but the latter speci ...

(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), and yellow fungus (黃耳; pinyin: huáng ěr; literally "yellow ear") See also: List of Chinese mushrooms and fungi. *Red

jujube Jujube (), sometimes jujuba, known by the scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'' and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. Description It is a smal ...

s (traditional: 紅棗; simplified: 红枣; pinyin: hóng zǎo) *

Lotus root ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often re ...

(藕; pinyin: ǒu) *Other types of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s, including straw mushrooms (草菇, pinyin: cǎogū), oyster mushrooms (平菇, pinyin: pínggū), and '' Tricholoma'' mushrooms (口蘑, pinyin: kǒumó) *

Potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

( 马铃薯; pinyin: mălíngshǔ) *

Laminaria ''Laminaria'' is a genus of brown seaweed in the order Laminariales (kelp), comprising 31 species native to the north Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans. This economically important genus is characterized by long, leathery laminae and relati ...

Cornflower ''Centaurea cyanus'', commonly known as cornflower or bachelor's button, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Europe. In the past, it often grew as a weed in cornfields (in the broad sense of "corn", referring to gr ...

buds *

Baby corn An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

Seasonings

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

(simplified: 姜; traditional: 薑; pinyin: jiāng) *

Monosodium glutamate Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer ...

(味精; pinyin: wèijīng) *

Vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...

(usually

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small an ...

, 花生油; and/or

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cul ...

, 芝麻油) * Vegetarian Oyster sauce (simplified: 斋蚝油; traditional: 齋蠔油; pinyin: zhāi háoyóu) * Pickled tofu (豆腐乳; pinyin: dòufu rǔ; both red and white) *

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

(traditional: 鹽; simplified: 盐; pinyin: yán) * Dark soy sauce (老抽; pinyin: lǎochōu) *

Starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

(淀粉; pinyin: diànfěn) *

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

(糖; pinyin: táng)

References

External links

Recipe
chinesefood.about.com
"What is Buddha's Delight?"
by Chelsie Vandaveer

from ''

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honolu ...

''
Buddha's delight recipe
(Chinese) {{Portal bar, Food, Asia Buddhist cuisine Hong Kong cuisine Chinese New Year foods Vegetarian dishes of China