香菜しゃんつぁい

also: こうさい · シャンサイ

シャ

ン

ツァ

イ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

coriander; cilantro; Chinese parsley

Refers to the herb Coriandrum sativum. シャンツァイ is the common Japanese name borrowed from Chinese; also known as コリアンダー.

Written forms

香菜Usage93%
- シャンツァイ
  Standard kanji spelling; commonly read as シャンツァイ from Chinese xiāngcài.
- こうさい
シャンツァイUsage5%
Katakana spelling reflecting the Chinese-derived pronunciation; common in menus and everyday use.
コウサイUsage2%
こうさい
Japanese on'yomi reading; rarely used in practice.

Kanji

香incense, smell, perfume
菜vegetable, side dish, greens

Similar words

コリアンダー
コリアンダー is the more general term for coriander, often referring to the seeds or the plant in a botanical context, while 香菜 (シャンツァイ) specifically refers to the fresh leaves used as a herb, especially in Asian cooking.

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 香菜 (xiāngcài), literally 'fragrant vegetable'. The reading シャンツァイ reflects the Chinese pronunciation, while こうさい is the Japanese on'yomi.