Tell me more ×
Chinese Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Chinese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.

Are 汤 and 羹 used to refer to different kinds of soup or is 羹 merely a part of the full word for soup (汤羹)? For example, is one used to refer to light soups while the other is reserved for heavy broths?

share|improve this question

3 Answers

For 羹, have a look at this article at wikipedia.

share|improve this answer
4  
It is preferred if you can take the relevant parts of a linking article and add them to your answer. This is in case a linked article changes and makes your answer more useful by having other people scan an article for relevant information. – xiaohouzi79 Jan 9 '12 at 21:52

In my opinion, 汤 is a more common to be seen. When it refers to "soup", the "soup" is thin. I mean, most ingredient is water, and you can find other things such as meat, vegetables,etc. inside the water.

羹 is a thick soup. Generally, we will add some 芡粉(qiàn fĕn)(most composition is the starch) to the soup(We call this action "勾芡(gōu qiàn)"). The starch will absord the water, so it makes the soup "thick".

share|improve this answer

In my opinion, 羹 is thicker in texture whereas 汤 is more watery like stock. for example:

chicken stock: 鸡(chicken)汤

EDIT: interesting note: when you translate the book title "chicken soup for the soul", it's translated to 心灵鸡汤 (chicken stock of the soul), so chicken soup and chicken stock both translate to 汤。

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.