Wokipedia: P is For...

In Wokipedia, we introduce aspects of Chinese gastronomy, one letter at a time. This time, 'P' gets the treatment.

… pàocài 泡菜 
Paocai is a catch-all term for a variety of lightly-pickled vegetables, usually preserved in a pickling liquor of salt, Sichuan pepper, vinegar, and sugar. Any variety of vegetable, from bean sprouts to cabbage to radish, can be made into paocai. Paocai is particularly common in Sichuan cuisine, where they are served before the meal as a palate cleanser. In Chinese, the word paocai is also used to refer to Korean kimchi (韩式泡菜 hán shì pàocài).

… persimmon 柿子 shìzi
Persimmons, specifically the diospyros kaki variety, are native to Japan, China, Burma, and Nepal. The most common variety in Beijing is the squat, tomato-like fuyu, which may be consumed when they are firm and under-ripe, or left to soften. Dried persimmons are a popular winter snack. The fruits are first peeled, before being hung up to dry for several weeks. As the fruits dry, the fructose comes to the surface, making it look like they have been dusted with powdered sugar. 

… pídàn 皮蛋
Despite being commonly known as “century eggs,” pidan are not in fact preserved for 100 days (or years). Instead, they are packed in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime, and rice hulls for anything from several weeks to several months, giving them their signature color and texture – a creamy dark grey-green yolk surrounded by a brown jelly-like white. Pidan definitely fall under the heading of “test the foreigner” dishes, but if you give them a go you’ll find that the salty, umami flavor is not dissimilar to blue cheese, and they slip down pretty easily when married with equally strong ingredients such as scallions and ginger. 

… pineapple bun 菠萝包 bōluó bāo
These popular Hong Kong treats are so named because the top of the bun loosely resembles an unpeeled pineapple. This signature look is produced by topping a sweet bread bun with dough similar to that used for sugar cookies, which crisps and turns golden in the oven. Our favorite version of the pineapple bun, commonly served in Hong Kong cha chaan tengs and dai pai dongs, sees the bun halved and stuffed with a fat slab of butter. 

That's P sorted. Click here to see what you missed with O.

Photos: Wikimedia, Flickr