Moo goo gai pan (Chinese: 蘑菇雞片; Cantonese: móh-gū gāi-pin) is the Americanized version of a Cantonese dish – chicken with mushroom in oyster sauce (香菇雞片), which can be a stir-fry dish or a dish made in a claypot. The Chinese-American version is a simple stir-fried dish with thin sliced chicken, white button mushrooms, and other vegetables. The word pan means thin slices, referring to the way the chicken is cut. Popular vegetable additions include bok choy, snow peas, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, carrots, and/or Chinese cabbage (Napa cabbage).[1]

Moo goo gai pan
Traditional Chinese蘑菇雞片
Simplified Chinese蘑菇鸡片
Literal meaning"Mushroom chicken slices"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinmógū jīpiàn
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationmòh-gū gāi-pin

Etymology

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The name comes from the Cantonese names of the ingredients (note that tone marks here do not match Mandarin tones):[2][3]

  • moo goo (蘑菇; mòhgū): 'button mushrooms'
  • gai (; gāi): 'chicken'
  • pan (; pín): 'slices'

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Randhawa, Jessica (April 18, 2019). "Moo Goo Gai Pan Recipe". theforkedspoon.com. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  2. ^ "Moo goo gai pan". Cooks.com. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  3. ^ "The American Heritage Dictionary: moo goo gai pan". Archived from the original on March 19, 2006. Retrieved December 21, 2005..