zi char

English

Alternative forms

tze char, zhi char

Etymology

Borrowed from Singaporean Hokkien 煮炒 (chír-chhá, literally “cook and fry”), with Pinyin-influenced spelling.

Pronunciation

(Singapore) IPA^(key): [ˌt͡sɯ̟˨˦ ˈt͡ʃʰa˦˨], [ˌt͡sz̩˨˦ ˈt͡sʰa˦˨]
(US) IPA^(key): /tsə ˈtʃɑ/, /- ˈtʃɑɹ/

Noun

zi char (uncountable)

(Singapore, Malaysia) Affordable homestyle or restaurant-style Chinese dishes, from stalls commonly found in hawker centres and coffee shops.
- 2006 December 31, Teo Pau Lin, quoting Benjamin Seck, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page L28:
  Just three shops away, there’s another zhi char (restaurant-style coffee shop) place.
- 2008 October 5, Colin Goh, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:
  The places I raved about weren’t the posh, fine-dining restaurants, but the declasse zhi cha joints, preferably with seating in an alleyway next to a longkang.
- 2008 November 23, Huang Lijie, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 24:
  Once synonymous with comfort, home-style food, zi char (cooked food in Hokkien) eateries are becoming the hot bed of innovative, if not haute Singaporean cuisine.

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