雞肉炒飯
gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6
Chicken fried rice in Cantonese is 雞肉炒飯 (gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6).
This phrase refers to the dish of fried rice cooked with pieces of chicken.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 雞肉 (chicken meat), 炒 (to fry or stir-fry) and 飯 (rice).
How does it change in a sentence?
In Cantonese, the ingredient 雞肉 (chicken meat) acts as a modifier for the noun phrase 炒飯 (fried rice).
How do you pronounce it?
gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6
Did you know?
- In Cantonese, the character 炒 (stir-fry) is used as slang meaning 'to get fired' from a job.
- In a traditional Cantonese kitchen, the high heat required for 炒飯 is called 'wok hei' or 'breath of the wok'. This refers to the charred, smoky flavor that cannot be replicated on a home stove.
- While 雞肉 is the standard term for chicken meat, locals often use 雞粒, which literally means 'chicken grain', to describe the small diced pieces in the rice.
Examples in context
- 呢份雞肉炒飯好味。ni1 fan6 gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6 hou2 mei6.This chicken fried rice is delicious.
- 佢哋送咗個雞肉炒飯嚟。keoi5 dei6 sung3 zo2 go3 gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6 lai4.They delivered a chicken fried rice.
Example conversation
A couple is deciding what to order for lunch.
- 雅婷 Nga Ting子健，你想食咩？zi2 gin3, nei5 soeng2 sik6 me1?Zi Kin, what do you want to eat?
- 子健 Tsz Kin我想食雞肉炒飯。ngo5 soeng2 sik6 gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6.I want to eat chicken fried rice.
- 雅婷 Nga Ting好啊，我都鍾意食雞肉炒飯。hou2 aa3, ngo5 dou1 zung1 ji3 sik6 gai1 juk6 caau2 faan6.Okay, I like chicken fried rice too.
- 子健 Tsz Kin即係我哋可以嗌一樣嘢食。zik1 hai6 ngo5 dei6 ho2 ji5 aai3 jat1 joeng6 je5 sik6.That means we can order the same thing to eat.
