五指毛桃, photo 1 of 1

五指毛桃

wǔzhǐ máotáo

noun

Meanings

1 dried fiveleaf fig root (a Cantonese soup ingredient)
2 fiveleaf fig (Ficus hirta)

About the ingredient

调料 Seasonings

Dried slices of a wild fig's root. Cantonese cooks simmer them for hours in soups, which come out tasting faintly of coconut.

Also called 南芪

Characters

Examples

HSK 7-9

广东人喜欢用五指毛桃煲汤。

Guǎngdōng rén xǐhuan yòng wǔzhǐ máotáo bāotāng.

Cantonese people like to use fiveleaf fig root to simmer soup.

HSK 7-9

这锅五指毛桃排骨汤有淡淡的椰香。

Zhè guō wǔzhǐ máotáo páigǔ tāng yǒu dàndàn de yē xiāng.

This pork-rib soup with fiveleaf fig root has a subtle coconut aroma.

Tips

culture

A signature ingredient of Cantonese 煲汤 (slow-simmered soups), sold as dried slices of root that give the soup a mild coconut-like aroma. The leaves split into five finger-like lobes (五指) and the ripe fruit looks like a small fuzzy peach (毛桃). Also sold as 南芪, 'southern astragalus'.

Stroke Order

五 wǔ

指 zhǐ

毛 máo

桃 táo