便饭

[xuechengfeng]

can someone relate 便饭 to me in a Western sense.. something that could be considered plain food here? i guess i don't understand because in the book 便饭 to the Chinese is not plain to me, such as 抄白菜，牛肉汤，狮子头

are these dishes considered normal, plain, etc in China?

[skylee]

I'd say 便饭 (a simple meal) in the chinese sense is what you would eat at home, such as plain rice or noodle, two or three dishes of meat, vegetables, eggs, and sometimes a soup. 炒白菜 and 牛肉汤 are really common.

A typical simple meal that my mom cooks would include an egg dish (e.g. steamed three eggs - egg+salty egg+thousand year egg), fried vegetables, a fried or steamed fish, and a soup of say lotus root and pork (and when she is lazy it is Campbell). This would be enough for 5 to 6 people.

[pazu]

but sometimes Chinese will invite guest for a "bianfan", which can turn out to be a big feast.

[skylee]

In HK, if someone invites you to a bianfan at his home, then it is customary to bring an additional dish (for example a chicken or duck or chashao bought at a BBQ shop), or some fruit, or some sweets. If this happens in China, then I guess cigarettes or some wine/liquor are also good.

If someone invites you OUT to have bianfan, then it might be something like pazu says.

[galitonwu]

便饭：指做一些家常的、简单的饭菜来招待客人。

在某些场合，主人为了表示客气，即使饭菜很丰盛，主人也会说是“便饭”。

[xuechengfeng]

so lion's head isn't bianfan then? it sounds pretty exotic to me? galiton, thanks for the response, but unfortunately i'm not that advanced to read all that, i can only pick and choose some of those characters

[skylee]

Lion's head is not common in Cantonese home-made meals, but maybe a more popular dish elsewhere. It is big meat balls in a sauce. Here are some pictures -

[xuechengfeng]

不好看