茴香豆

huíxiāngdòu

noun

Measure Word

一粒茴香豆 lì

Meanings

1 star anise-flavored fava beans
2 Shaoxing-style spiced broad beans (a snack)

Characters

Examples

他要了一碟茴香豆，慢慢地喝着黄酒。

Tā yào le yī dié huíxiāngdòu, mànman de hē zhe huángjiǔ.

He ordered a small dish of huixiangdou and slowly sipped his rice wine.

茴香豆是绍兴的特色小吃。

Huíxiāngdòu shì Shàoxīng de tèsè xiǎochī.

Huixiangdou is a specialty snack of Shaoxing.

Tips

culture

Famous from Lu Xun's 1919 short story 《孔乙己》 (Kǒng Yǐjǐ), where the failed scholar Kong Yiji is best known for asking how to write 茴 four different ways while nibbling huixiangdou with rice wine. The snack is now an icon of Shaoxing 绍兴 (Shàoxīng), Zhejiang.

In Pop Culture

孔乙己 Kǒng Yǐjǐ

Kong Yiji

1919 short story by Lu Xun in which the protagonist eats huixiangdou with rice wine; the snack became culturally inseparable from the story.

Stroke Order

茴 huí

香 xiāng

豆 dòu