How to Write 焢 (hōng) — Meaning “to simmer or stew”

Picture a big pot of braised pork (焢肉) sitting over a fire. The left side is the fire 火, and the right side 宏 looks like a large lid covering the pot, reminding you that this character means cooking something covered for a long time.

Write the fire radical 火 with a short left stroke, a dot, a sweeping right stroke, and a bottom dot. For the right part 宏, start with a dot on top, then a horizontal line, then a roof-like 冖 that must not be too wide, and finally the 厶 shape below.

焢 means to simmer or stew, 烊 means to melt (as in 打烊 for closing a shop), and 烕 is a rare character meaning to extinguish. Visually, 焢 has 宏 on the right, 烊 has 羊 (sheep), and 烕 has 戌 (a weapon-like component). Their meanings are completely different.

焢 is most commonly used in Taiwanese cuisine, especially for 焢肉 (braised pork) and 焢肉饭 (braised pork rice). It is rarely used in mainland China, where people say 焖肉 or 炖肉 instead. You will see 焢 on menus and food blogs describing rich, slow-cooked pork dishes.

Common words containing 焢 include: 焢肉 (hōng ròu) — braised pork; 焢肉饭 (hōng ròu fàn) — braised pork rice; 焢窑 (hōng yáo) — earth oven cooking.