How to Write 卤 (lǔ) — Meaning “halogen / brine / stewed in soy sauce”

Picture a fortune teller (卜) reading your future over a bowl of braised meat. The top hook suggests a ladle stirring the broth. The square bottom is the pot where the meat is cooked in soy sauce brine.

The first stroke is a left-falling stroke (丿) starting from the top left, then a vertical line (丨) crossing it to form 卜. The bottom part is a rectangle with a horizontal stroke at the top, then a left vertical, bottom horizontal, and a vertical hook on the right. Be careful not to make the bottom too wide — it should be slightly narrower than the top 卜.

卤 (lǔ) means brine or braised food, while 卡 (kǎ/qiǎ) means to block or a card, and 卢 (lú) is a surname. Visually, 卤 has a 卜 on top with a closed box below, 卡 has a top radical 上 and bottom 卜, and 卢 has a 卜 on top with a wide horizontal line below (like 户 without the dot). Their pronunciations and meanings are distinct.

卤 appears frequently in food names, such as 卤肉饭 (luwei braised pork rice) and 卤蛋 (soy-braised egg). These dishes are popular in Taiwan and Chinese-speaking regions, where soy sauce and spices are used to slowly cook ingredients. The character itself conveys a sense of savory, rich flavor from the halogens (salts) in the brine.

Common words containing 卤 include: 卤肉饭 (lǔ ròu fàn) — braised pork rice; 卤蛋 (lǔ dàn) — marinated egg / soy-braised egg; 卤味 (lǔ wèi) — braised food / luwei.