饺 (jiǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “dumpling”. It is written from 饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 交 (to cross; to hand over; to intersect), side by side, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “dumpling”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
饣 + 交
Left–right structure
- 饣 food radical (simplified form of 食) · shí meaning
- 交 to cross; to hand over; to intersect · jiāo sound
Structure from: 现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（饣3 + 交6 = 9 笔）；右侧 交 的表音身份由读音对照得出（交 jiāo / 饺 jiǎo，声母韵母相同，仅声调不同）
Memory aid
饣 on the left is the food radical — whatever this is, you eat it. 交 on the right is only there for the sound: jiāo drifts to jiǎo. Food that answers to jiǎo: 饺, the dumpling.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 饺子jiǎo zidumpling; jiaozi饺 = jiǎo
- 水饺shuǐ jiǎoboiled dumplings饺 = jiǎospoken asshuí jiǎo
Go deeper
All readings
dumpling
dumpling; a filled dough parcel, usually boiled, steamed or pan-fried
包着馅儿的半圆形面食，常煮、蒸或煎着吃。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 饺子jiǎo zidumpling; jiaozi饺 = jiǎo
- 水饺shuǐ jiǎoboiled dumplings饺 = jiǎospoken asshuí jiǎo
Sound component
交 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 饺 mean?
饺 (jiǎo) means dumpling; a filled dough parcel, usually boiled, steamed or pan-fried.
How do you pronounce 饺?
It is pronounced jiǎo.
What parts is 饺 made of?
饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 交 (to cross; to hand over; to intersect), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形按 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（饣3 + 交6 = 9 笔）；右侧 交 的表音身份由读音对照得出（交 jiāo / 饺 jiǎo，声母韵母相同，仅声调不同）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 饺 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 饺?
食. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 饺?
Common ones are 饺子 and 水饺. The reading of 饺 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.