# 膳 — meal tray

膳 means “meal tray”. It is a JLPT N1 kanji written with 16 strokes. On'yomi: ゼン (zen). It has no common kun'yomi. You'll see it in words such as 膳 (zen, “small dining table; serving tray”).

- Meaning: meal tray
- On'yomi: ゼン (zen)
- Kun'yomi: —
- Strokes: 16
- Level: JLPT N1 · set Food & cooking 3

## How to remember 膳

Sounds like 善: both read ゼン.

Parts: 月 moon; flesh · 善 virtuous

## Words with 膳

| Word | Reading | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 膳 | ぜん (zen) | small dining table; serving tray |

## Don't confuse it with

[群](https://moji.ninja/n2-kanji/flock/) · [養](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/nourish/) · [詳](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/in-detail/) · [繕](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/mend/)

## More in the “Food & cooking 3” set

[醸](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/brew/) · [汁](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/soup/) · [酵](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/ferment/) · [酢](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/vinegar/) · [酪](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/dairy/) · [膳](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/meal-tray/) · [串](https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/skewer/)

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From Moji Ninja (https://moji.ninja/), a free app for learning hiragana, katakana and the JLPT kanji from N5 to N1 with spaced repetition. Page: https://moji.ninja/n1-kanji/meal-tray/. Last updated 2026-11-01.