炖 (dùn): to stew

炖 (dùn) is a Chinese character meaning “to stew.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 火 (semantic) and 屯 (phonetic). It ranks #2972 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 炖 fire. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to stew

Etymology & Origin

炖

pictophoneticfire

Decomposition: ⿰火屯 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 炖 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
清炖verbqīng dùnto stew meat without seasoning
炖饭dùn fànrisotto
炖肉verbdùn ròuto stew meat
炖锅noundùn guōstew pot
炖煮dùn zhǔto stew
馄炖hún dùnsee 餛飩|馄饨
6
Total compounds
67
As first character
33
As last character
0
As middle character

炖 appears in 6 compound words: 67 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 炖 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

煮zhǔ
0.585220 co-occurrences
鸡jī
0.523132 co-occurrences
锅guō
0.51068 co-occurrences
汤tāng
0.502122 co-occurrences
肉ròu
0.493279 co-occurrences
菜cài
0.484218 co-occurrences
煌huáng
0.47872 co-occurrences
蘑mó
0.47522 co-occurrences
豆dòu
0.470114 co-occurrences
熏xūn
0.45316 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

炖牛肉需要小火慢炖两个小时,肉质才会软烂入味。

Dùn niúròu xūyào xiǎohuǒ màn dùn liǎng gè xiǎoshí, ròuzhì cáihuì ruǎnlàn rùwèi.

Stewing beef requires low heat for two hours for the meat to become tender and flavorful.

少数派Aug 2026

定时熄火 定时就不用说了,煲汤炖菜定时自动关火,无需专人看管,非常非常方便。

dìng shí xī huǒ dìng shí jiù bù yòng shuō le , bāo tāng dùn cài dìng shí zì dòng guān huǒ , wú xū zhuān rén kàn guǎn , fēi cháng fēi cháng fāng biàn .

Timer Shut-Off: The timer feature speaks for itself—it automatically turns off the heat when simmering soup or stewing vegetables, eliminating the need for constant supervision, which is extremely convenient.

少数派Aug 2026

这家的葱油酱和小鸡炖蘑菇有小包装的版本,很适合一天一包。

zhè jiā de cōng yóu jiàng hé xiǎo jī dùn mó gū yǒu xiǎo bāo zhuāng de bǎn běn , hěn shì gě yī tiān yī bāo .

This restaurant offers small-packet versions of its scallion oil sauce and chicken stewed with mushrooms, which are perfect for having one packet a day.

Am730Apr 2026

...定菜单 牛臀肉他他 / 麻辣翼板肉/红酒炖牛肉

. . . dìng cài dān niú tún ròu tā tā má là yì bǎn ròu hóng jiǔ dùn niú ròu

...Set Menu: Beef Tenderloin Tartare / Spicy Flank Steak / Beef Braised in Red Wine

SmzdmMar 2026

七组家常菜制作指南:从快手小炒到硬菜炖煮

qī zǔ jiā cháng cài zhì zuò zhǐ nán : cóng kuài shǒu xiǎo chǎo dào yìng cài dùn zhǔ

A Guide to Making Seven Sets of Home-Style Dishes: From Quick Stir-Fries to Hearty Stews

StheadlineMar 2026

...8豪叹4斤重长脚蟹加脆皮乳鸽 兼享小菜+炖汤

. . . 8 háo tàn 4 jīn chóng cháng jiǎo xiè jiā cuì pí rǔ gē jiān xiǎng xiǎo cài dùn tāng

...Indulge in an 8-ounce, 4-jin-weight long-legged crab and crispy-skinned squab, along with side dishes and a stewed soup

Tatoeba

汤姆往炖菜里加了西兰花。

Tāngmǔ wǎng dùn cài Lǐjiā le xīlánhuā.

Tom added broccoli to the stew.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 火 (fire) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced dùn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 炖 (dùn) mean in Chinese?
炖 (dùn) primarily means "to stew." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2972 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 炖 and 纯?
炖 (dùn) and 纯 (chún) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 火 vs 纟 (same 屯 component).
How many strokes does 炖 have?
炖 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 炖?
The radical associated with 炖 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.
What are the components of 炖?
炖 is composed of: 火 (semantic), 屯 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰火屯 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 炖?
Common words with 炖 include: 清炖 (qīng dùn, "to stew meat without seasoning"); 炖饭 (dùn fàn, "risotto"); 炖肉 (dùn ròu, "to stew meat"); 炖锅 (dùn guō, "stew pot"); 炖煮 (dùn zhǔ, "to stew"). There are over 6 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 炖 (dùn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation dùn: 顿 (to stop), 吨 (ton (loanword)), 钝 (blunt), 盹 (doze), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 炖 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 炖 and the traditional form is 燉.

Practice writing 炖 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.