麦饭 (màifàn): barley or wheat rice; coarse grain meal

Meanings

1 barley or wheat rice; coarse grain meal
2 (historical) peasant staple of unhulled wheat or barley boiled like rice

Characters

麦

Examples

古代农民常以麦饭为主食。

Gǔdài nóngmín cháng yǐ màifàn wéi zhǔshí.

Ancient peasants often ate barley rice as their staple.

陕西的麦饭是一道乡土菜。

Shǎnxī de màifàn shì yī dào xiāngtǔ cài.

Shaanxi's maifan is a rustic country dish.

Tips

history

麦饭 was historically the food of the poor — recorded in 《急就篇》 (Western Han) and 《后汉书》 where Feng Yi serves it to the future Emperor Guangwu. In modern Shaanxi cooking it survives as a steamed dish of vegetables tossed with wheat flour (also called 麦饭 or 麦饭子).