豇 (jiāng) · cowpea; long bean; yard-long bean

Meanings

1 cowpea; long bean; yard-long bean

Characters

豇

jiāng

cowpea (in 豇豆)

Examples

HSK 5

奶奶在院子里种了一排豇豆。

Nǎinai zài yuànzi lǐ zhòng le yì pái jiāngdòu.

Grandma planted a row of long beans in the yard.

HSK 7-9

肉末炒豇豆是一道经典的川菜家常菜。

Ròumò chǎo jiāngdòu shì yí dào jīngdiǎn de chuāncài jiāchángcài.

Long beans stir-fried with minced pork is a classic Sichuan home dish.

HSK 7-9

酸豇豆能给炒饭增添一种特别的酸味。

Suānjiāngdòu néng gěi chǎofàn zēngtiān yì zhǒng tèbié de suānwèi.

Pickled long beans add a special tang to fried rice.

Tips

usage

jiāng is a bound form - it appears only in 豇豆 and its derivatives. The bean itself (Vigna unguiculata, also called cowpea or yard-long bean) is a Chinese kitchen staple, especially in Sichuan and Hunan cooking. Common compounds: 酸豇豆 (pickled / sour long beans, a famous Sichuan condiment), 干煸豇豆 (dry-fried long beans). The pods routinely grow 30-60cm long, hence the English name 'yard-long.'

memory

Left 豆 (bean) + right 工 (work, supplying the sound jiāng via the Old Chinese reading kong). One of the simplest phono-semantic legume names: bean-radical + sound-marker, no semantic puzzle.

Components

radical

豆 dòu

bean; pulse

Left bean radical (Kangxi #151). Marks 豇 as a member of the legume family - same group as 豌 (pea) and 豉 (fermented soybean).

phonetic

工 gōng

work; labour; supplying the sound

Right phonetic 工 - the gōng to jiāng shift is regular for an old velar initial. The same phonetic anchors 江 (river), 杠 (pole), 扛 (carry on shoulder), 缸 (vat) - a tight phonetic family.