ji3 mai5薏米
Jyutpingji3 mai5
Yaleyi máih
Definition
Pearl barley or Job's tears; an oval, greyish-white seed used for food and medicine.
colloquialfoodhealth
How it's used
Often paired with 綠豆 or 赤小豆 in traditional Cantonese soups and herbal teas to help remove dampness from the body. It is considered a cooling ingredient in Chinese medicine, making it a popular choice during the humid summer months in Hong Kong. You will frequently see it sold in dried form at traditional grocery stores or herbal shops.
Measure word
baau1包bāuExamples
Drinking boiled pearl barley water is great for clearing internal heat.
Related words
Common phrases
Common mistake
Do not confuse it with 珍珠米, which is a type of short grain rice used for eating as a staple food. While they share similar names in some contexts, 薏米 is primarily used for its medicinal properties in soups and drinks.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
