炒菜 (chǎocài): to stir-fry

Meanings

1 to stir-fry
2 to cook (a dish)
3 stir-fried dish

Characters

炒

Examples

我妈妈炒菜特别好吃。

Wǒ māma chǎocài tèbié hǎochī.

My mom's cooking is especially delicious.

炒菜前要把锅烧热。

Chǎocài qián yào bǎ guō shāo rè.

Heat the wok before stir-frying.

Tips

culture

炒 (stir-frying in a hot wok with little oil) is the defining Chinese cooking technique — one of the 'eight methods' alongside 煎/煮/蒸/炖/烤/炸/烧. Saying 我会炒菜 often means 'I can cook' in general, not just stir-fry.

Stroke Order

炒 chǎo

菜 cài

Related Words

炒白菜 chǎobáicài

stir-fried cabbage / stir-fried Chinese cabbage

炒青菜 chǎoqīngcài

stir-fried greens / stir-fried leafy vegetables

炒菜锅 chǎocàiguō #63,534

wok / stir-fry pan / frying pan for Chinese cooking

炒疙瘩 chǎogēda

stir-fried dough knots (Beijing dish of small hand-pinched dough pieces fried with meat and vegetables)

炒 chǎo HSK 6 #1,810

to stir-fry; to sauté / to speculate (stocks, real estate) / to fire/sack (an employee, colloquial)

爆炒地猴 bàochǎodìhóu

stir-fried 'earth monkey' (a Hakka dish of stir-fried frog)

炒黄柏 chǎohuángbò

stir-fried phellodendron bark (TCM preparation) / dry-fried huangbo

炒米粉 chǎomǐfěn

stir-fried rice vermicelli / fried rice noodles

炒豆腐 chǎodòufu

stir-fried tofu / fried bean curd

爆炒加辣 bàochǎojiālà

stir-fried extra spicy (food order note) / high-heat stir-fried with extra chili