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| This article is part of the series: Cuisine of China |
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| Eight Great Traditions |
| Shandong cuisine |
| Szechuan cuisine |
| Cantonese cuisine |
| Fujian cuisine |
| Jiangsu cuisine |
| Zhejiang cuisine |
| Hunan cuisine |
| Anhui cuisine |
| Others |
| Huaiyang cuisine |
| Yunnan cuisine |
| Mandarin cuisine |
| Shanghai cuisine |
| Taiwanese cuisine |
| Hakka cuisine |
| Chiuchow cuisine |
| Chinese Buddhist cuisine |
| Chinese Islamic cuisine |
| American Chinese cuisine |
| Hong Kong-style American cuisine |
| Historical Chinese cuisine |
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Buddhist cuisine is known as 齋菜 ( pinyin: zhāi caì) among Chinese.
Some Mahayana Buddhists in China and Vietnam also avoid eating strong-smelling plants such as onion, garlic, ginger, asafoetida, chivesChives Allium schoenoprasum are a member of the onion family ( Alliaceae) grown for their leaves, which are used as an herb. Chives have a much milder flavor than onions or garlic. They are referred to only in the plural, because they grow in clumps rathe, shallotShallot as the word is commonly used, refers to two different Allium species. The French grey shallot or griselle which has been considered to be the "true shallot" by many, is Allium oschaninii a species which grows wild from central to southwest Asia., and leekThe Leek Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L. Gay) is a vegetable belonging, with onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae the onion family. Also in this species are two very different vegetables: The elephant garlic Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum grown f, and refer to these as wu hun. The theory behind this Buddhist dietary restriction is that these vegetables have strong flavours which are supposed to excite the senses and thus represent a burden to Buddhists seeking to control their desires. Another explanation is that these are all root crops, and harvesting them requires killing organisms in the soil. It is unclear which is the correct explanation, if indeed there is one.