菜

cài = c + ai4

dish (type of food) / vegetable / cuisine / CL:盤|盘[pan2],道[dao4] / (coll.) (one's) type / (of one's skills etc) weak / poor

菜 = 艹 + 采 : The King oh Chu (c) is busy preparing a dish (菜) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). He is using two plectrums (采) to pluck out parts of a mat of artificial lawn (艹).

菜 character breakdown

菜
- 采
  - 木
    - 八
      - 丿
      - ㇏
    - 十
      - 一
      - 丨
  - 爫
    - 丿
    - ⺍
      - 小
        
        亅
        
        八
        
        丿
        
        ㇏
- 艹

采

採

cǎi = c + ai3

to pick / to pluck / to collect / to select / to choose / to gather

采 = 木 + 爫 : Mnemonic symbol: a plectrum.

采 = 木 + 爫 : The King of Chu (c) decorated the airplane's (ai3) Christmas trees (木) with plectrums (采), now it's time to decorate himself. He selects parts of his beard to shave with an electric razor (爫), then goes on to select some of the leaves to pluck them out and put them in his partly shaved face.

艹

cǎo = c + ao3

grass radical 草字頭兒|草字头儿[cao3 zi4 tou2 r5]

Artificial lawn. The King of Chu burns artificial lawn in the aorta.

采

cǎi = c + ai3

color / complexion / looks / variant of 彩[cai3] / variant of 採|采[cai3]

采

cài = c + ai4

allotment to a feudal noble