How to Write 豇 (jiāng) — Meaning “cowpea”

Think of 豆 (bean) plus 工 (work) as 'working on beans' — farmers work hard to grow long cowpeas. The visual of a bean plant needing labor can help you recall the character.

Write the left radical 豆 first, making it slightly narrower than usual. Then add the right part 工 with a short top horizontal and a long bottom horizontal. A common mistake is making the left 豆 too wide, which throws off the balance.

豇 (jiāng) means cowpea or yardlong bean, while 豉 (chǐ) means fermented soybean. Visually, the right side differs: 豇 has 工, and 豉 has 支. In usage, 豇 appears in dishes like 炒豇豆, whereas 豉 is used in 豆豉 (fermented black beans).

豇 is almost always used in the word 豇豆 (jiāng dòu), which refers to cowpea or yardlong bean. You might see it on menus for stir-fried dishes or in grocery stores. It is a common vegetable in Chinese cooking, but the character itself is not part of basic HSK vocabulary.

Common words containing 豇 include: 豇豆 (jiāng dòu) — cowpea; yardlong bean; 炒豇豆 (chǎo jiāng dòu) — Stir-fried cowpeas; 长豇豆 (zhǎng jiāng dòu) — Yardlong bean.