Kuai (dish)

History

Raw fish and meat dishes known collectively as kuai were first documented in China during the Zhou dynasty, appearing in the Classic of Poetry, Classic of Rites, Analects, and Mencius. A related method called xuan involved slicing raw meat into large thin pieces like carpaccio, though the term kuai was also used for this method. Kuai was the preferred preparation for raw beef, lamb, and fish such as carp, while wild deer and boar were prepared as xuan.

Thinness of the slices was an important quality factor. During the Zhou dynasty and Warring States period, kuai made from all fauna was widely consumed. In the Qin and Han dynasties, kuai from land fauna became less popular, and the term increasingly referred to thinly sliced raw fish. The dish was consumed by all classes, and the character kuài with its fish radical appeared during this period, alongside huì with the fire radical for fish grilled rare then thinly sliced.

Ying Shao wrote in the Fengsu Tongyi that in Zhu and E raw fish was not consumed, highlighting the oddity of not eating fish raw. The dish jinji yukuai with baheji sauce was created during this time. Although not widely consumed in later dynasties, kuai held high status in Chinese cuisine. Chinese physicians sometimes recommended against it due to risk of illness from flukes and parasites, but many prominent individuals like Cao Zhi and Chen Deng maintained a strong affinity for it.

It was believed that strongly flavored spices such as mustard or Sichuan pepper could render the dish safe. Consumption of kuai in China declined sharply by the Qing dynasty, and since then most Chinese food has been cooked, though a Chaozhou dish called yusheng uses raw fish as its primary ingredient.