髮菜

Chinese

		hair	dish (type of food); vegetables
trad. (髮菜)		髮	菜
simp. (发菜)		发	菜

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fàcài, fǎcài

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄚˋ ㄘㄞˋ, ㄈㄚˇ ㄘㄞˋ

• Cantonese

  (Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): faat³ coi³

  (Taishan, Wiktionary): fat¹ toi^1*

• Hakka (Meixian, Guangdong): fad⁵ coi⁴
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): hoat-chhài

  (Teochew, Peng'im): huêg⁴ cai³

• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁷faq-tshe
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): fa⁶ cai⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fàcài
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄚˋ ㄘㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fàcài
    • Wade–Giles: fa⁴-tsʻai⁴
    • Yale: fà-tsài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fahtsay
    • Palladius: фацай (facaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fä⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰaɪ̯⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fǎcài
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄚˇ ㄘㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fǎcài
    • Wade–Giles: fa³-tsʻai⁴
    • Yale: fǎ-tsài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: faatsay
    • Palladius: фацай (facaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fä²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰaɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faat³ coi³
    • Yale: faat choi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faat⁸ tsoi³
    • Guangdong Romanization: fad³ coi³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːt̚³ t͡sʰɔːi̯³³/
  • (Taishanese, Taicheng)
    • Wiktionary: fat¹ toi^1*
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fat̚³³ tʰᵘɔi³³⁻³³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: fad⁵ coi⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /fat̚¹ t͡sʰoɪ⁵³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoat-chhài
    • Tâi-lô: huat-tshài
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hoatzhaix
    • IPA (Singapore): /huat̚³²⁻⁴ t͡sʰai²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: huêg⁴ cai³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: huek tshài
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /huek̚²⁻⁴ t͡sʰai²¹³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁷faq-tshe
    • MiniDict: fah^入 tshe
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴faq-tshe
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /faʔ³³ t͡sʰe⁴⁴/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: fa⁶ cai⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɸa̠²⁴ t͡sʰai̯⁴⁵/

Noun

髮菜

1. fat choy (the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc flagelliforme, which is eaten as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine)

Usage notes

• This is often considered an auspicious vegetable because it is near-homophonous to 發財／发财 (fācái, “to make a fortune”).

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 髮菜 (“hair moss; fat choy”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		髮菜, 頭髮菜
Mandarin	Taiwan	髮菜
	Yinchuan	頭髮菜
	Xining	髮菜
	Liuzhou	髮菜
	Singapore	髮菜
Cantonese	Guangzhou	髮菜
	Hong Kong	髮菜
	Taishan	髮菜
	Singapore (Guangfu)	髮菜
Hakka	Meixian	髮菜
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	髮菜
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	髮菜
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	頭毛菜
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	頭那毛菜
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	頭毛菜
Southern Min	Xiamen	頭毛菜
	Zhangzhou	頭毛菜
	Kaohsiung	頭毛菜
	Yilan (Toucheng)	頭毛菜
	Tainan	頭毛菜
	Tainan (Anping)	頭毛菜
	Singapore (Hokkien)	髮菜, 頭毛菜
	Manila (Hokkien)	髮菜, 頭毛菜
	Bangkok (Teochew)	髮菜, 頭毛菜
	Chiang Mai (Teochew)	髮菜, 毛菜
Wu	Shanghai	髮菜
	Suzhou	頭髮菜
	Hangzhou	髮菜, 頭髮菜
Xiang	Changsha	髮菜

Descendants

• → English: fat choy