Translating Spices into Chinese

[Hero Doug]

I'm growing a little tired of always eating Chinese food so I'm going to try my hand at cooking some western food I miss a lot. I need to pick up some spices to do this though, so I'm hoping someone can help me with the translations. I looked them up, but I can't verify their accuracy.

Spices

thyme = 百里香

oregano = 加诺

marjoram = 墨角兰

paprika = 辣椒

Accent or Chinese Ve-Tsin powder (not sure about this one)

dill = 莳萝

basil = 罗勒

unknown ingredient

suet = 羊脂

If anyone is curious, here are the recipes

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1927,156168-224201,00.html

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1618,150187-255199,00.html

[imron]

I'm fairly sure that the Chinese you've written here for oregano and basil is not what's written on my bottles of oregano and basil. I'll check when I get home. For these two though, you'll probably need to pick them up at a supermarket because most spice stalls at markets don't seem to sell them (at least not near me). They'll also be incredibly expensive compared to other spices -- 4-5 times the price at the supermarket near me, even though it's the same brand and size as other bottles of spices.

Chinese Ve-Tsin

I'm guessing this will be 味精 - wèijīng - MSG.

[msittig]

Googling around:

thyme = 百里香，麝香草

oregano = 牛至

marjoram = 马郁兰，马祖林

（marjoram and oregano are related, a lot of Chinese sites group the two under 牛至）

paprika = 红辣椒粉

dill = 莳萝，土茴香、野小茴

basil = 罗勒

（I know basil is right because I'm growing some on the windowsill of our kitchen, and this is what it was called when we bought it from the flower market）

[imron]

On my spice bottles (MasterFoods), oregano is 香草叶, and basil is 紫苏叶. Although judging from a google search, it would appear these are not so common terms for these spices and there are other possible things with the same name. I'm inclined to think you're not going to get one standard term for them.

[Hero Doug]

Thanks, I'll make a list and go hunting, I'll report back with my findings.

[skylee]

I like to call basil "金不換".

[david808]

I know basil is different from 紫苏叶. I grew both in my backyard this year

[imron]

All I was saying is what is written in Chinese on the ingredients label of my bottle of Basil Leaves.

[Hero Doug]

I was at the Metro by my house today and they have a lot of spices, most of the ones I asked about. My phone didn't have any power, but the next time I go in I'll take a photo of the labels and post them.

The farmers market also didn't really have anything; it's apparently not the season.

[Hero Doug]

Ok, I finally went to Metro and took a few photos. It seems like some of the translations just emulate the sound of the spice rather than provide a specific name. Anyways, here are the pics, hope they help someone.

[Hero Doug]

the last batch, hope it helps someone out.