How to Write 魠 (tuō) — Meaning “Spanish mackerel (often used in 'Spanish mackerel')”

Imagine a fish (魚) swimming in the ocean, and it is so fast that it leaves a 'tail' (乇 looks like a tail) behind. This helps you remember that 魠 is a fast-swimming Spanish mackerel.

The radical 魚 is written first with the left side strokes, then the right component 乇. A common mistake is to make the 乇 too wide or to forget the small horizontal stroke at the top of 乇. Keep the fish part narrow and balanced.

魝 (jì) is a different fish, meaning 'gizzard shad' or a type of herring, while 魠 always refers to Spanish mackerel. Visually, 魝 has 丩 on the right instead of 乇, and the pronunciation and usage are completely different.

魠 is rarely used alone; it appears in compound words like 土魠鱼 (Spanish mackerel) and 魠鱼羹 (thick soup made with this fish). This fish is popular in Taiwanese cuisine, especially fried and in soups, but the character is not common in everyday writing.

Common words containing 魠 include: 土魠鱼 (tǔ tuō yú) — Spanish mackerel; 魠鱼羹 (tuō yú gēng) — Spanish mackerel thick soup; 炸魠鱼 (zhà tuō yú) — fried Spanish mackerel.