Maocai

This article is part of the series
Chinese cuisine
Regional cuisines Four Great Traditions Chuan Lu Yue Huaiyang Eight Great Traditions Anhui Cantonese Fujian Hunan Jiangsu Shandong Sichuan Zhejiang Ten Great Traditions Anhui Beijing Cantonese Fujian Hunan Jiangsu Shandong Shanghai Sichuan Zhejiang Twelve Great Traditions Anhui Beijing Cantonese Fujian Henan Hunan Jiangsu Shaanxi Shandong Shanghai Sichuan Zhejiang Fourteen Great Traditions Anhui Beijing Cantonese Fujian Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Liaoning Shaanxi Shandong Shanghai Sichuan Zhejiang Sixteen Great Traditions Anhui Beijing Cantonese Fujian Henan Hubei Hunan Jiangsu Liaoning Shaanxi Shandong Shanghai Sichuan Tianjin Zhejiang Yunnan New Eight Great Traditions Gansu Hangzhou Jilin Liaoning Ningbo Shaanxi Shanghai Shanxi Beijing and the vicinity Beijing Imperial Aristocrat Tianjin Other regional styles Teochew Guangxi Guizhou Hainan Haipai Hakka Hong Kong Jiangxi Macanese Manchu Northeastern Qinghai Taiwanese Tibetan Xinjiang
Overseas cuisine Burma Canada Caribbean Philippines India Indonesia Japan Korea Malaysia Pakistan Peranakan Perú Puerto Rico Singapore United States
Religious cuisines Buddhist Islamic
Ingredients and types of food Main dishes Desserts Noodles
Preparation and cooking Stir frying Double steaming Red cooking
See also Customs and etiquette List of Chinese desserts List of Chinese dishes List of Chinese restaurants List of restaurants in China
China portal Taiwan portal Hong Kong portal Macau portal

Maocai (Chinese: 冒菜; pinyin: màocài) is a stew-like dish originating from the Chinese city of Chengdu, in Sichuan. It is composed of a variety of vegetables as well as meat and/or fish in a stock made of mala sauce. Although it is similar to styles of hot pot common in this region, its chief difference lies in the fact that the ingredients are already cooked when served, and hence no simmering is done at the table.

Common Ingredients

Although there is great variation in the ingredients used in maocai, typically any of the following vegetables are included: lotus root, potato slices, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, winter melon, cauliflower, wood ear, enoki, oyster mushrooms, seaweed, bamboo shoots, tofu, yuba, beansprouts, as well as rice vermicelli and cellophane noodles made of sweet potato starch.

The meats most frequently encountered are beef, pork and lamb, although other meats and more specific cuts may be used too.

Preparation

The name maocai is derived from the verb mao (Chinese: 冒; pinyin: mào; Chengdu dialect: /mau˨˩˧/) which in Sichuanese Mandarin refers to the blanching of the ingredients in a colander in hot water by moving the colander up and down repeatedly.^[1] This pre-cooking of the ingredients before immersion in the stock sets it apart from most types of hot pot.

References