Cooking in Chinese 做饭
zuòfàn
Cook in Chinese is 做饭 (zuò fàn).
Also searched for as: cook, cooking verbs, make dinner, cooking words.
How do you make it yourself? 15 essential cooking words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
To cook in Chinese is 做饭 (zuò fàn), literally 'make rice', and these are the core verbs of a Chinese kitchen. Each method has its own word, such as 炒 (chǎo) for stir-frying, 蒸 (zhēng) for steaming and 煮 (zhǔ) for boiling, so once you know them you can follow most recipes and read many menus, where the cooking method often comes first in a dish's name.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 做饭 | zuò fàn | to cook |
| 炒 | chǎo | to stir-fry |
| 煮 | zhǔ | to boil |
| 蒸 | zhēng | to steam |
| 烤 | kǎo | to roast; to bake |
| 炸 | zhá | to deep-fry |
| 切 | qiē | to cut |
| 洗 | xǐ | to wash |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to add |
| 锅 | guō | pot; wok |
| 菜谱 | cài pǔ | recipe |
| 熟 | shú | cooked |
| 生 | shēng | raw |
| 火 | huǒ | heat; fire |
| 尝 | cháng | to taste |
Usage tips
- 熟 (shú), cooked, is often pronounced shóu in everyday speech, as in 熟了 (shóu le); both readings are standard.
- 尝 (cháng) is usually softened with 一下 (yī xià) or doubled, as in 你尝尝 (nǐ cháng chang), which sounds like a friendly invitation rather than an order.
- 大火 (dà huǒ) and 小火 (xiǎo huǒ) are how cooks talk about high and low heat; 火 (huǒ) here means the flame, not a fire.
Common mistakes
- Adding an object to 做饭 (zuò fàn), as in 做饭鸡肉; 做饭 already contains its object, so say 做鸡肉 (zuò jī ròu) or 做菜 (zuò cài) for cooking a dish.
- Translating 'fry' as 炒 (chǎo) every time; 炒 is stir-frying with constant tossing, 炸 (zhá) is deep-frying and pan-frying is 煎 (jiān).
Mini dialogue
- A今天谁做饭？Jīn tiān shéi zuò fàn?Who's cooking today?
- B我来吧，我想做西红柿炒鸡蛋。Wǒ lái ba, wǒ xiǎng zuò xī hóng shì chǎo jī dàn.I'll do it. I want to make stir-fried tomato and egg.
- A好啊。要我帮你切西红柿吗？Hǎo a. Yào wǒ bāng nǐ qiē xī hóng shì ma?Great. Shall I chop the tomatoes for you?
- B好，谢谢。你尝一下，咸不咸？Hǎo, xiè xie. Nǐ cháng yī xià, xián bù xián?Yes, thanks. Have a taste, is it salty?
- A刚好，很好吃！Gāng hǎo, hěn hǎo chī!It's just right, delicious!
Example sentences
- 今天谁做饭？Who's cooking today?
- 先炒鸡蛋，再放西红柿。Stir-fry the eggs first, then add the tomatoes.
- 水开了，可以煮面条了。The water's boiling, you can cook the noodles now.
- 我们蒸一条鱼吧。Let's steam a fish.
- 她周末在家烤面包。She bakes bread at home at the weekend.
- 炸的东西不要吃太多。Don't eat too much deep-fried food.
- 请帮我把土豆切成小块。Please cut the potatoes into small pieces for me.
- 做饭前先洗手。Wash your hands before cooking.
- 汤里再放点儿盐。Add a bit more salt to the soup.
- 锅里的油热了。The oil in the wok is hot.
- 我在网上找了一个菜谱。I found a recipe online.
- 肉还没熟，再等一下。The meat isn't cooked yet, wait a bit longer.
- 这个鸡肉还是生的。This chicken is still raw.
- 先开大火，再换小火。Start on high heat, then turn it down low.
- 你尝一下，咸不咸？Have a taste, is it salty?
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Cooking speaking island has 8 everyday questions about cooking to prepare your own answers to.