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卤味 (lǔ wèi) — braised soy-sauce dishes (卤味)

Definition

卤味 (lǔwèi) refers to a category of foods — meat, offal, eggs, tofu — slow-simmered in spiced soy sauce, sold as street food or cold snacks. Think of it as a 'flavor' or 'style' of cooking rather than a single dish.

noun
braised soy-sauce dishes (卤味)

Examples

  • 卤味。
    Wǒ mā ma zuò de lǔ wèi hěn hǎo chī.
    The braised dishes my mom makes are very tasty.
  • 卤味。
    Zhè jiā lǔ wèi diàn de yā bó tè bié yǒu míng.
    The duck necks at this braised-food shop are especially famous.
  • 卤味。
    Xià tiān chī lǔ wèi pèi pí jiǔ zuì shū fu.
    Eating braised dishes with beer in summer is the most enjoyable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

卤lǔsoy-sauce marinade
味wèiflavor

卤 names the soy-sauce marinade and 味 names the flavor, together meaning braised dishes.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 滷; 卤 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 卤 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words it is 滷; in others it is 鹵.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
鹵
鹵lǔ滷lǔ
Same sound today

The traditional form 滷 uses 氵 (water) with 鹵 for the sound; the simplified 卤 is a shorthand.

Open 卤 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
未
未wèi味wèi
Same sound today

味 combines 口 (mouth) with 未, which gives the sound wèi; the mouth part relates to taste.

Open 味 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Food (General)

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