煮

It refers specifically to cooking by boiling or simmering, not general cooking.

Traditionally analyzed as a phono-semantic compound, though alternative explanations exist.

Standard explanation:

火 (fire) — semantic component

者 (자) — phonetic component

The 火 radical clearly indicates heat or cooking, while 者 supplies the pronunciation.

Alternative interpretation:

Some scholars argue that 煮 originally depicted wood or fuel piled up with fire burning underneath.

According to this view, 者 once visually implied stacked materials over fire, and 火 was later added (or emphasized) to clarify meaning.

Both interpretations agree on the core idea "applying fire to food through sustained heating in liquid."

In Korean, the character survives mainly in compound nouns, while the native verb 삶다 is used in everyday speech.

煮食 (자식) — boiled food; cooked meal

煮飯 (자반) — to boil rice

煮湯 (자탕) — to make soup

煮肉 (자육) — boiled meat

煮藥 (자약) — to decoct medicine

煮 contrasts with:

燒 (to roast)

蒸 (to steam)

炒 (to stir-fry)

It implies liquid + heat + time, rather than dry or quick cooking.

Semantically neutral and practical, rarely metaphorical.

In traditional medicine, 煮 is essential in decoction (煮藥), where herbs are boiled to extract active substances.