煮
zhǔ · HSK 6
boil
🫕 Bottom: fire (灬). Top: person (者) who tends the flames — boil!
者 (zhě, person/the one who) sits over 灬 (fire dots). The one who stands over fire is boiling something. The zhǔ sound echoes 者 zhě, nudging you toward the right pronunciation.
煮 — 者 (phonetic) + 灬 (fire radical, bottom)
煮 means 'to boil' or 'to cook'. The bottom component 灬 is a variant of 火 (fire), showing flames beneath a pot. The top 者 serves as the phonetic element, hinting at the pronunciation zhǔ. Together they depict cooking food over fire.