The kanji 煮 means "to cook," "to boil," or "to simmer." It refers specifically to the process of cooking food by immersing it in liquid, typically water, and heating it. This can involve boiling, simmering, or stewing.

・On-yomi (音読み): シャ (sha) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): 煮 (ni) - as in 煮る (ni-ru)

⚫︎煮物 Translation: Simmered dishes; boiled foods ⚫︎煮込み料理 Translation: Stewed dishes ⚫︎お煮しめ Translation: A Japanese dish simmered with vegetables and sometimes meat.

The kanji 煮 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). It combines the radical 氵 (water) on the left side, representing the liquid involved in the cooking process, and the phonetic component 者 (sha), which indicates the sound and contributes to the meaning through its association with "one who is in the state." The original meaning was cooking something in a liquid.