Stockpile, in Cantonese, we call it 儲 something. 儲 also means to save. To save money, you would say 儲錢.money is 錢. 儲 in Hong Kongese, we also read this word as 柱. So like 儲錢. So say, stockpiling food, it would be 儲食物 or 儲糧to be more proper. 食物 is food, 糧can mean multiple things, it is short for 糧食 or when you get your pay cheque, it’s called 出糧, The origin of this word could be traced Back in 春秋時期, the spring and autumn period, 771 - 476 BC, turned out they used to give pay cheques with materials, not until after they started using money instead. Hence the reason why getting your pay cheque is called 出糧.
Getting back to the actual topic, for the purpose of stockpiling 儲糧 here are some hacks:
1. Certain vegetables 蔬菜 or for short菜, you can freeze and store for up to 1-2 years, for example, carrots 蘿蔔, turnip 白蘿蔔, radishes depending on what colour, also called 蘿蔔, the green ones are called 青蘿蔔, basically root vegetables that kind of looks like carrots, turnips etc, they are all called 蘿蔔. corn 粟米, you can just get those precut one with carrot cubes and beans, those would be called 雜豆, meaning mixed beans, although obviously the carrot cubes and corns are not beans but they are shaped like beans. Hence the name 雜豆. So like I said, those vegetables 蔬菜 or for short菜, once you get them, peel their skin if there is any, cut into shapes you desire then dry with paper towel, then freeze.
2. Stockpile Can food, 儲罐頭食品, 罐頭 means can, 罐 stand alone, is a unit, say for example, a can of tuna, you would say 一罐吞拿魚, 吞拿 is the sound for Tuna, and 魚means fish. so another example would be a can of spam, 一罐午餐肉, spam 午餐肉, another way to easily remember the word spam, basically 午餐肉 is the literal translation for Luncheon meat. 午餐 means lunch, and 肉 is meat.
3. Bread, 麵包, you perhaps already know this, bread 麵包 you can freeze. Although, it is perhaps better to eat as toasts, toast in Cantonese is onomatopoeia, toast is 多士, because if you just eat it as is after freezing, the bread will be a little soggy.
4. Buy filling food, those for usually more starchy food, like rice 米, remember I told you last time, having a meal in Cantonese is 食飯literally eating rice? So rice, when it is raw and uncooked, is called 米, whereas when its cooked, it is called 飯. Other starchy food like pasta 意大利粉or for short 意粉, 意大利粉 pasta, literally means Italian noodles. 意大利 Italy, and 粉 is noodles. So for short 意粉
5. Don’t forget to get ziplock bags 保鮮袋or 密實袋, 保 means keep, 鮮 means fresh, 袋 means bag, so 保鮮袋 is ziplock bags, bags for keeping things fresh. Or 密實袋, 密實 means tight, 袋 like i said means bag, so 密實袋 means ziplock bags, like bags that keep everything tight.
6. If you can, buy meat in bulk because it is usually cheaper. Meat, like I mentioned with luncheon meat, meat is 肉, now meat 肉 once you get them in bulk, you can cut it up, split it up and put in ziplock bags 保鮮袋, same with the vegetables蔬菜
7. Beans and lentils, 豆, whatever you can find, they can be stored for a long time and they are quite filling.
8. Now you have all these food, you can consider making a giant stew, or like curry, put them in freezable Tupperware, or for me, buy a bunch of dumpling skin for making dumplings, 餃子, then freeze.
9. Protein powder, powdered milk might be helpful.
2 more tips:
10. Remember to check expiry date, expiry date 過期日, 過期 literally exceeding the period, and 日 means date, which I have talked about before, esp dairy products, since they go bad quickly.
11. Also, remember not to get too much sugary foods, because sugary food will turn into glucose in your body, and other monosaccharides, disaccharides etc, glucose will spike your insulin, with sudden spiking or dropping, you will feel hungry easily. Choose slow digesting carbs over quicker digesting carbs
Finally, I do see others stockpiling toilet paper, I am not necessarily recommending you to stockpile them, but I do want to tell you the Cantonese words for toilet paper. Toilet paper is 廁紙, 廁紙is the literal translation for toilet paper, toilet in Cantonese is 廁所 and paper in Cantonese is 紙.
That’s it. Let’s review the vocab we have learn about today:
stockpiling food - 儲食物/ 儲糧
Getting paid - 出糧
Saving money - 儲錢
Vegetables - 蔬菜 or for short菜
carrots - 蘿蔔
corn - 粟米
Beans and lentils - 豆
Mixed beans - 雜豆
Can food - 罐頭食品
Can - 罐頭 or as a unit 罐
spam/ Luncheon meat 午餐肉
Tuna - 吞拿魚
bread 麵包
Toilet - 廁所
toilet paper - 廁紙
Raw rice - 米
Pasta - 意大利粉or for short 意粉
ziplock bags - 保鮮袋or 密實袋
Dumplings - 餃子
Expire - 過期
expiry date 過期日
