烹调
pēng tiáo · HSK 7
to cook
🍳 烹 boil + 调 to season = the full art of cooking, heat plus seasoning
烹 pēng is to boil or heat food; 调 tiáo is to adjust or season (same char as in 调味, to flavour). Together they name cooking as a craft: applying heat and balancing taste, not just one quick fry.
调 — speech radical 讠(言) + 周 zhōu (phonetic)
调 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 讠(言) radical signals 'speech' or 'words,' while 周 supplies the sound. Originally meaning to harmonize or coordinate through words, it later extended to 'tune,' 'adjust,' and 'melody' (read diào), and 'mix evenly' or 'mediate' (read tiáo).