How to Write 焙 (bèi) — Meaning “to bake or dry over a slow fire”

Picture a baker (咅 sounds like "pour") pouring batter onto a hot pan (火) to bake. The left side is fire, and the right side reminds you of the baking action. This helps connect the character to the meaning "to bake over a slow fire."

Write the fire radical 火 first, then the right side 咅. The fire radical narrows and its last stroke becomes a dot to the left. On the right, 咅 has a top part that looks like 立 (lì) and a bottom 口 (kǒu). A common mistake is making the top part too wide or forgetting the bottom 口 is smaller.

烊 (yáng) means to melt metal, like melting silver, and uses a different right component (羊). 烕 (miè) means to extinguish or destroy, and its right side is 戌 (xū). In contrast, 焙 always relates to gentle baking or drying, not melting or putting out fire. Visually, 焙 has the phonetic 咅 while the others have 羊 and 戌.

焙 is common in words like 烘焙 (baking) and 焙干 (to roast dry), especially in cooking or tea processing. In Chinese culture, 焙 often describes the slow drying of tea leaves over fire, a traditional technique. You will see it in bakery names, such as 烘焙店, meaning a pastry shop.

Common words containing 焙 include: 烘焙 (hōng bèi) — to bake; baking; 焙干 (bèi gān) — to roast dry; 烘焙店 (hōng bèi diàn) — bakery.