猪肉末
zhūròumò
Ground pork in Chinese is 猪肉末 (zhūròumò).
The term refers to pork that has been finely chopped or minced.
Which one should you use?
While 猪肉末 describes the physical state of the meat, the term 肉馅 is often used when referring to minced meat intended as a filling for dumplings or buns. Additionally, in many culinary contexts, the word for pig, 猪, is omitted and the term is shortened to 肉末 if the context of pork is already established.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Northern China, ground pork is often called 肉馅, which means 'meat filling.'
How do you pronounce it?
zhūròumò
Did you know?
- In a professional kitchen or market, you might see the term 绞肉, which literally means 'twisted meat', referring to the mechanical action of a meat grinder.
- Traditional Chinese ground pork was historically made by hand-chopping meat with a heavy cleaver rather than using a grinder. This creates a coarser, more irregular texture than the uniform 'ground' meat common in the US.
- In many parts of China, the word 肉 'meat' on its own refers specifically to pork. This is why 肉末 is understood as ground pork even without the word 猪 'pig'.
Examples in context
- 我需要一点猪肉末来炒菜。I need a bit of ground pork for stir-frying vegetables.
- 这道菜需要用细细的猪肉糜做成。This dish should be made with finely ground pork.
- 我们要买一点猪肉末。Wǒmen yào mǎi yīdiǎn zhūròumò.We need to buy some ground pork.
- 请把这些猪肉末放进碗里。Qǐng bǎ zhèxiē zhūròumò fàng jìn wǎn lǐ.Please put this ground pork into the bowl.
- 这个饺子馅用了猪肉末。Zhège jiǎozi xiàn yòngle zhūròumò.This dumpling filling uses ground pork.
Example conversation
Zhiqiang and Yuting are planning dinner at home.
- 志强 Zhiqiang我们要买猪肉末吗？Wǒmen yào mǎi zhūròumò ma?Do we need to buy ground pork?
- 雨婷 Yuting是的，做饺子需要用。Shì de, zuò jiǎozi xūyào yòng.Yes, we need it to make dumplings.
- 志强 Zhiqiang那我现在去超市买。Nà wǒ xiànzài qù chāoshì mǎi.Then I will go to the supermarket and buy it now.
- 雨婷 Yuting好的，志强，快点回来。Hǎo de, Zhìqiáng, kuài diǎn huílái.Okay, Zhiqiang, come back quickly.
