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Cooking Words in Cantonese

Cantonese cooking is built on a handful of techniques — stir-frying in a wok, steaming fish, slow-boiling soup — and each has its own short verb. Learn them and restaurant menus start to make sense, because dish names often begin with how the food was cooked.

zyuˊ²煮faanˍ₆飯
to cook rice; to cook [華]: 做飯
炒
to stir-fry
蒸
to steam
煎
to pan-fry
bouˉ¹煲
cook; stew; boil
gukˍ₆焗
be forced/coerced to; be trapped
炸
to deep-fry
siuˉ¹燒
run a fever; have a temperature
廚房
kitchen
wokˍ₆鑊
huge pot; cauldron
刀
knife
湯
soup

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Frequently asked questions

How do you say to cook in Cantonese?

煮飯 (zyu2 faan6) — literally "cook rice", but it means cooking a meal in general.

How do you say stir-fry in Cantonese?

炒 (caau2). It is the first word of many menu items, like 炒飯 (fried rice) and 乾炒牛河 (dry-fried beef noodles).

What is 煲湯?

煲湯 (bou1 tong1) is slow-boiled soup, a Cantonese household staple simmered for hours. 煲 is both the verb and the pot.

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