黑面 (hēi miàn) — coarse wheat flour (whole-wheat flour)

Definition

Coarse whole-wheat flour, the dark counterpart to refined 白面 (white flour). Used in northern Chinese cooking for noodles, mantou, and steamed buns with a chewier texture.

noun
coarse wheat flour (whole-wheat flour)

Examples

  • 黑面。
    Zhè zhǒng hēi miàn zuò de miàn tiáo hěn yǒu jiáo jìn.
    Noodles made from this coarse wheat flour are very chewy.
  • 黑面。
    Nǎi nai xǐ huan yòng hēi miàn zhēng mán tou.
    Grandma likes to steam mantou buns using coarse wheat flour.
  • 黑面。
    Chāo shì lǐ mài hēi miàn hé bái miàn liǎng zhǒng miàn fěn.
    The supermarket sells both coarse wheat flour and white flour.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

黑hēidark
面miànflour

黑 means dark and 面 means flour, so 黑面 is dark coarse flour.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 黑 seems to come from drawing a head marked with dots, usually read as facial tattoos.

Open 黑 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

面 originally drew a man’s face, with one eye exaggerated; the horizontal stroke was added later.

Open 面 →

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