Unravel the origin of the word "Gun Chiang."

Kun Chiang is one of the most popular familiar Chinese dishes in Thai households. It is a salty sweet dried sausage that is most often made from lean pork and can be cooked for a variety of dishes on the menu. However, many people may still have a misunderstanding about the origin and meaning of the word "Kun Chiang," whose true meaning has an interesting linguistic origin.

This article will take you to find the true origin of the Chinese word "Kun Chiang" to loosen doubts and understand the meaning of this food, delving into the roots of the words that make up what each word means.

{What language does the true root of the word "Kun Chiang" come from?}

The word "Gun Chiang" that is widely used by Thais is actually derived from Teochew Chinese, a language that most Chinese Thais use, with the root of the word "Kwangchang or Kwangcheng / Kwangcheng" and literally means "filling in seasoned things" or "sausage."

1. The meaning of "Gun" or "Guan" ()

The word "guan" in Teochew Chinese has a sound base from "guang" or "gun," which means "fill," "compress," "stuff" or "injection," "To fill, to pour, to stuff," so the word "gun" here does not mean "pig" in any way, and is not associated with "pekun" or "pig year," which Thai people often misunderstand.

2. The meaning of "Chiang" ()

For "Chang" or Chiang, it means "intestine" or "intestine," which means what is used as a container to contain seasoned raw materials to make sausages, so the word "Chiang" is part of the characteristics of this food.

{Confusion: When "gun" doesn't mean "pig"}

The confusion that arises in Thailand is the misunderstanding that the word "gun" in "Gun Chiang" means "pig," like the word "gun," which is the name of the zodiac year, or "year of the pig," but in fact, the word "Gun Chiang" in the linguistic sense does not indicate the kind of meat, but the way it is made.

Therefore, although most of the Kun Chiang that is popularly done is "Kun Chiang Pig," the more accurate and obvious principle name-calling should be called according to the kind of meat that is made. For example, calling "Kun Chiang Kai" or "Kun Chiang Fish" matches the meaning of the word "chicken sausage" or "fish sausage" that has undergone the process of "filling."

{Gun Chiang as a means of food preservation}

Gunchiang is considered an important food preservation method of the Chinese people, especially during the winter months (, month-hunting), as it can be stored for long consumption. In Mandarin Chinese, a food-preserving and smoked Gunchiang is called "hunchang" (; là cháng), a dish prevalent during Chinese New Year and Chinese food cultures around the world.

Whether the origin of the name comes from the word "filling in," what is certain is that Kun Chiang has long become part of the delicious dish with Chinese Thais, and is still a favorite dish of many to date.