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芡

qiàn
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 Gorgon plant; fox nut (Euryale ferox)
  2. 2 thickening starch (in cooking)

Examples

加一点芡把汤汁勾稠。
Jiā yìdiǎn qiàn bǎ tāngzhī gōuchóu.
Add a little starch slurry to thicken the sauce.
芡实常用来煲汤煮粥。
Qiànshí cháng yònglái bāotāng zhǔzhōu.
Fox nuts are often used in soups and porridge.

Tips

culture
In cooking, 勾芡 (gōuqiàn) means thickening a dish with starch slurry; the name comes from the seed 芡实 (qiànshí, fox nut), whose powder was once used for this. The seeds are also a common ingredient in soups and tonics.

Components

radical
艹 cǎo
grass; plant
The grass radical 艹 sits on top, marking this as a plant: the water-growing fox-nut plant.
phonetic
欠 qiàn
to owe; to lack
欠 (qiàn, to owe) sits below and gives the whole character its exact sound, qiàn, with no tone change.

Stroke Order

芡 qiàn