煎 (jiān): to fry, to pan-fry
煎 (jiān) is a Chinese character meaning “to fry, to pan-fry.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 前 (phonetic) and 灬 (semantic). It ranks #2687 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 煎 fire. Its radical form 灬 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 点 (diǎn, point, o'clock), 热 (rè, hot, to heat), 然 (rán, nature, thus).
Definitions
- to fry, to pan-fry
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 煎 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 煎饼 | jiān bǐng | jianbing, a savory Chinese crêpe |
| 煎熬 | jiān áo | to suffer |
| 生煎包 | shēng jiān bāo | pan-fried dumpling |
| 水煎包 | shuǐ jiān bāo | pan-fried bun (covered and steamed after pan-frying), usually with pork or vegetable filling |
| 煎炸食品 | jiān zhá shí pǐn | fried food |
| 滚油煎心 | gǔn yóu jiān xīn | to suffer mental anguish (idiom) |
| 生煎 | shēng jiān | shengjian, a pan-fried bun filled with meat and juices, a Shanghai specialty |
| 煎炸油 | jiān zhá yóu | frying oil |
| 煎蛋卷 | jiān dàn juǎn | omelet |
| 峇拉煎 | bā lā jiān | (loanword) belachan (South-East Asian condiment made from fermented shrimp paste) |
| 煎炸 | jiān zhá | to fry |
| 煎蛋 | jiān dàn | fried egg |
| 蚵仔煎 | é zǐ jiān | (Tw) oyster omelette (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [ô-á-tsian]) |
| 煎牛扒 | jiān niú bā | beef steak |
| 煎锅 | jiān guō | frying pan |
煎 appears in 20 compound words: 60 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 15 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 煎 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
早餐我喜欢吃煎蛋配吐司，既营养又方便。
Zǎocān wǒ xǐhuan chī jiāndàn pèi tǔsī, jì yíngyǎng yòu fāngbiàn.
For breakfast, I like fried eggs with toast—nutritious and convenient.
...恶!客控老板“抽菸、滑手机+没洗手”狂包煎饺
. . . è ! kè kòng lǎo bǎn chōu 菸 , huá shǒu jī méi xǐ shǒu kuáng bāo jiān jiǎo
...Yuck! Restaurant owner caught "smoking, scrolling on his phone, and not washing his hands" while making pan-fried dumplings
热锅凉油的原理......煎鸡蛋 #煎鸡蛋不粘锅做法 #铁锅 #美食...
rè guō liáng yóu de yuán lǐ . . . . . . jiān jī dàn jiān jī dàn bù nián guō zuò fǎ tiě guō měi shí . . .
The principle of "hot pan, cold oil"......Frying eggs #How to fry eggs without sticking #Cast iron skillet #Food...
汤姆找不到锅铲了，只好用夹子为煎饼翻面。
Tāngmǔ zhǎobudào guōchǎn le, zhǐhǎo yòng jiāzi wèi jiānbǐng fān miàn.
Unable to find a spatula, Tom used tongs to flip the pancakes.
我们早餐做了煎饼。
Wǒmen zǎocān zuò le jiānbǐng.
We made pancakes for breakfast.
这些鸡蛋坏掉了，不能拿来煎。
Zhèxiē jīdàn huàidiào le, bù néng nálái jiān.
I cannot fry these eggs. They are rotten.
他们的工作是煎土豆。
Tāmen de gōngzuò shì jiān tǔdòu.
Their job is to fry the potatoes.
汤姆甚至连怎么煎鸡蛋都不知道。
Tāngmǔ shènzhì lián zěnme jiān jīdàn dōu bù zhīdào.
Tom doesn't even know how to fry an egg.
桌子上放着一个盘子，上面放着三颗煎蛋。
Zhuōzi shàng fàng zhe yī gè pánzi, shàngmiàn fàng zhe sān kē jiāndàn.
On the table, there was a plate with three fried eggs on it.
我把蔬菜在煎锅里糖渍。
Wǒ bǎ shūcài zài jiānguō lǐ táng zì.
I candy the vegetables in the frying pan.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 煎 (jiān) mean in Chinese?
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What are the components of 煎?
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What characters sound the same as 煎 (jiān)?
Is 煎 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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