How to Write 厨 (chú) — Meaning “kitchen; cook”

Imagine a chef (厨师) working in a kitchen under a cliff-like roof (厂), cooking beans (豆) and carefully measuring spices with an inch (寸). This mental picture links the shape to the meaning of kitchen and cook.

First write the outer 厂 (horizontal stroke, then left-falling), then the inside 豆 (horizontal, vertical, then two dots and another horizontal), and finally 寸 (horizontal, hook, then dot). A common mistake is to forget the dot on 寸 or to misplace the dots of 豆.

厨 has 豆 and 寸 inside the 厂 radical, while 厝 contains 昔 (meaning past) inside 厂 and 原 has 白 and 小 inside 厂. Visually, 厨 is the only one with a clear 豆+寸 structure, and its meanings are kitchen/cook, unlike 厝 (coffin) and 原 (original).

厨 appears in common words like 厨房 (kitchen) and 厨师 (chef), referring to cooking spaces and professionals. Culturally, 下厨 means to go into the kitchen and cook oneself, often used in everyday conversation about home cooking.

Common words containing 厨 include: 厨房 (chú fáng) — kitchen; 厨师 (chú shī) — chef; cook; 下厨 (xià chú) — to cook; to go into the kitchen.