stir-frying

"D Tse"

asked about "itameru" and "iru" a while back. I've lost the original post, I
don't recall seeing anyone else address this, so here's what I found:

"itameru" is "stir-fry". The Chinese character is "chao3" ("cao2" for you
Cantophones out there) plus the hirangana "me" and "ru".

"iru" is "pan-fry; toast, fry in a dry pan". It can use "chao3" + "ru",
*but* it can also use the character "jian1" (Canto: "jin1") + "ru". So
perhaps if you were talking about chestnuts in a dry wok, you'd use "iru"
with the "chao3" character, and when talking about pancakes, fried eggs,
etc., you'd opt for "iru" with "jian1"?

Kou