椒盐 (jiāo yán) — spiced salt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

椒盐 (jiāo yán) is a cooking term for a dry seasoning mix of Sichuan pepper and salt, used as a rub or sprinkle on fried foods. You will see it as a flavor label — e.g. 椒盐排骨 ("salt-and-pepper spare ribs").

noun

spiced salt

Examples

椒盐。
Zhè dào cài yào sā yì diǎn jiāo yán cái hǎo chī.
This dish needs a little spiced salt to taste good.
椒盐。
Tā zuì xǐ huan chī jiāo yán pái gǔ.
He loves spiced salt spare ribs the most.
椒盐。
Chāo shì lǐ mài gè zhǒng kǒu wèi de jiāo yán.
The supermarket sells spiced salt in various flavors.

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.

椒 is pepper, and 盐 is salt, so 椒盐 is salt seasoned with pepper.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鹽; 盐 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

鹵鹵lǔsalt

Sound part声符shēngfú

監

監jiān鹽yán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 鹽 uses 鹵 to show salt and 監 for the sound; the simplified 盐 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

Flavors & Seasonings

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.