How to Write 拌 (bàn) — Meaning “To mix / To stir”

Imagine using your hand (扌) to stir a bowl of sauce until the ingredients are blended into one half (半). Visualize your hand mixing half of the noodles with the other half to create a complete dish.

Write the left radical 扌 first: horizontal, vertical hook, then lift. Then write 半: dot, left-falling stroke, horizontal, horizontal, vertical, horizontal. A common mistake is making the top of 半 look like two dots; remember it is a dot and a left-falling stroke, not two dots.

拌 has 半 on the right (meaning 'half') and means 'to stir'. 托 has 乇 on the right (a plant sprout) and means 'to support with the hand' or 'to entrust'. 㧜 is very rare and often a variant form; focus on the different right-side components to distinguish them.

拌 is common in cooking contexts, such as 拌面 (noodles with sauce) and 凉拌 (cold salad dressed with sauce). In Chinese cuisine, 凉拌 dishes are especially popular in summer for their refreshing, no-cook preparation.

Common words containing 拌 include: 拌面 (bàn miàn) — Noodles with sauce / Mixed noodles; 凉拌 (liáng bàn) — cold and dressed with sauce (salad); 搅拌 (jiǎo bàn) — to stir; to mix.