Kuai (dish) facts for kids

Kuai was an old Chinese dish. It was made from thin strips of raw fish or meat. This dish was very popular and often eaten in ancient China. The Book of Rites, an old Chinese text, describes kuai as small, thin slices or strips of raw meat. First, the meat was sliced very thinly, then these thin slices were cut into strips.

Today, similar dishes are often called "raw fish slices" (Chinese: 生魚片; pinyin: shēngyú piàn) or "yusheng" (Chinese: 魚生; pinyin: yúshēng). In ancient times, fish like carp (鯉) and mandarin fish (鳜) were common. Now, salmon (鮭) is often used.

Sauces were a very important part of kuai dishes. For example, scallions were used for sauces in spring. Mustard seed was used for sauces in autumn. Many old texts say that kuai served without sauces was not good to eat.

History of Kuai: Raw Delights in Ancient China

Raw fish and meat dishes, all known as kuai, first appeared in China during the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BC). You can find mentions of kuai in famous old books like the Classic of Poetry and the Analects.

How Kuai Was Prepared in Early Times

Another way to prepare raw meat was called xuan (軒). This involved slicing raw meat into large, thin pieces, similar to carpaccio. However, the word kuai was often used for this method too. Kuai was the favorite way to prepare raw beef, lamb, or fish like carp. Wild deer and boar meat were usually prepared as xuan. How thin the slices or strips were was a big sign of how good the dish was. During the Zhou dynasty and the Warring States period, kuai made from all kinds of animals was widely eaten.

Kuai During the Qin and Han Dynasties

During the Qin (221–206 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) periods, kuai made from land animals became less common. The term kuai started to mean mostly thinly sliced raw fish. This dish was eaten by everyone, rich or poor. Around this time, a new Chinese character for kuai (鱠) appeared. It had the fish radical (魚), showing its connection to fish. The older character (膾) had the "" meat radical.

New characters also appeared, like huì (燴), which had the fire radical (火). This showed fish that was lightly grilled, then thinly sliced. This is a bit like Japanese tataki. Raw fish and kuai were so common that one writer, Ying Shao, even mentioned it was strange not to eat raw fish in some areas! A famous dish from this time was jinji yukuai (金齏玉膾) with its special baheji sauce (八和齏).

Why Kuai Became Less Popular

Even though kuai was highly respected in Chinese cooking, its popularity declined in later dynasties. Chinese doctors sometimes warned against eating it. This was because there was a real risk of getting sick from tiny worms or other germs in raw meat. However, many important people, like Cao Zhi, still loved the dish. They believed that strong spices like mustard or Sichuan pepper could make the dish safe to eat.

By the time of the Qing dynasty, people in China ate kuai much less often. Since then, most Chinese food has been cooked. However, one Chaozhou (Teochew) dish called yusheng still uses raw fish as its main ingredient.