41 Beijing snacks 北京小吃 (2)
かつて皇帝のみが食べることを許されたという、豌豆黄の製法が明かされます。
大家好, 欢迎收看今天的成长汉语节目. Welcome back to another episode of Growing up with Chinese.
Now I made sure to eat snack before you from today’s show because our hungry trio Mike, 小明 and 兰兰 are still wandering around 北京 snack street today. Now for those of you who missed our last show, 北京 has numerous snack specialties and 小明 and 兰兰 decided to take Mike out to try some. So, let’s check in with them now, and see just exactly what’s going on.
小明：麦克，怎么样？ 吃饱了吗？
麦克：好像有些饱了。可是还有那么多好吃的呢。
兰兰：可不是嘛。这儿的好吃的这么多。你一次哪儿吃得过来啊？ 没关系。我们下次再带你来吃吧。
小明：兰兰，既然来了，就让麦克多吃几种吧。一会儿我们可以去打橄榄球。
兰兰：哎，你就知道打橄榄球。
小明：呵呵，不是吃多了嘛，打打球帮助消化。
麦克：哎，兰兰，这是什么？ 黄澄澄的？
兰兰：这个啊，是我最爱吃的小吃啦，这叫豌豆黄。
麦克：豌豆黄？ 那肯定是豌豆做的啦？
兰兰：没错，真聪明。你说得一点儿也没错。
麦克：这个可比“驴打滚”好猜多了。
兰兰：麦克，你可别小看这豌豆黄。过去只有皇上才能吃得上呢。
麦克：为什么呀？ 是因为豌豆很贵吗？
兰兰：不是因为豌豆贵。是制作豌豆黄非常麻烦。要花费很长时间，而且方法保密。只有皇上的厨师才会做呢。
麦克：真的吗？ 那这里是不是也很贵啊？
小明：不贵不贵。现在老百姓都能吃得起豌豆黄了。我来请你吃。
麦克：可是，小明，豌豆黄好吃吗？ 可别和豆汁似的，我不爱吃。
小明：好不好吃，试试不是就知道了吗？ 您好，麻烦您给我拿三块豌豆黄。麦克：嗯，好吃，真好吃。
兰兰：天哪，这么多豌豆黄都被你一个人吃光了？
麦克：没有没有，是我和小明两个人吃的。
小明：你……行啊，我再给你买，你吃多少块？
麦克：哈哈。
It seems like Mike still had quite a bit of room left in his stomach and it’s just as well because 豌豆黄 is very good. But for now let’s take a moment to go over some of our key sentences in today’s dialogue and see just exactly what makes 豌豆黄 so special.
好像有些饱了. 可是还有那么多好吃的呢. I think I might be a little full but there’re still so many good things to eat. 好像 means it seems like. And 飽 means to be full. So 好像有些饱了. It seems like I might be a little full. Or I think I might be a little bit full.
可不是嘛, 这儿的好吃的这么多, 你一次哪儿吃得过来啊? Well of course, there’re so many good things to eat here, how could you possibly eat them all in one trip? 可不是嘛 is an expression of agreement like “well, that of course.” 吃得过来 it’s like saying eat it all. So, 哪儿吃得过来 is like saying how could you eat it all.
小明：麦克，怎么样？ 吃饱了吗？
麦克：好像有些饱了。可是还有那么多好吃的呢。
兰兰：可不是嘛。这儿的好吃的这么多。你一次哪儿吃得过来啊？ 没关系。我们下次再带你来吃吧。
小明：兰兰，既然来了，就让麦克多吃几种吧。一会儿我们可以去打橄榄球。
兰兰：哎，你就知道打橄榄球。
不是吃多了嘛, 打打球帮助消化. We ate too much, right? Playing ball helps digestion. Now the first part of this sentence is a rhetorical question. Well we ate too much, right? 不是吃多了嘛. Now 帮助 means to help, and 消化 means digestion. So 打打球帮助消化 means playing some ball helps digestion.
碗豆黄, 那肯定是豌豆做的啦. 豌豆黄 that must be made with peas. 豌豆 is the term for the vegetable pea. And 黄 means yellow. So we’re looking at yet another special 北京 snack made out of yellow peas.
小明：不是吃多了嘛，打打球帮助消化。
麦克：哎，兰兰，这是什么？ 黄澄澄的？
兰兰：这个啊，是我最爱吃的小吃啦，这叫豌豆黄。
麦克：豌豆黄？ 那肯定是豌豆做的啦？
兰兰：没错，真聪明。你说得一点儿也没错。
麦克：这个可比“驴打滚”好猜多了。
This next sentence is pretty long. So, let’s break it up.
是制作豌豆黄非常麻烦. It’s because making 豌豆黄 is a pain. It takes a long time. 制作 means to make, and 麻烦 is a fabulous word in Chinese that can be used in all kinds of context to mean troublesome or a bother or a pain. 制作豌豆黄非常麻烦. And why is this so?
要花费很长时间, 而且方法保密, 只有皇上的厨师才会做呢. It takes a long time to make, and method is top secret only the emperor’s cook knew how to make it. Now 花费 means to spend. So 花费很长时间 is to spend a lot of time. 方法 means method and 保密 means to keep something secret. 厨师 is how you say chef or cook.
兰兰：麦克，你可别小看这豌豆黄。过去只有皇上才能吃得上呢。
麦克：为什么呀？ 是因为豌豆很贵吗？
兰兰：不是因为豌豆贵。是制作豌豆黄非常麻烦。要花费很长时间，而且方法保密。只有皇上的厨师才会做呢。
麦克：真的吗？ 那这里是不是也很贵啊？
小明：不贵不贵。现在老百姓都能吃得起豌豆黄了。我来请你吃。
麦克：可是，小明，豌豆黄好吃吗？ 可别和豆汁似的，我不爱吃。
小明：好不好吃，试试不是就知道了吗？
Next let’s take a look at today’s vocabulary.
- 飽 to be full, have eaten one’s fill*1. bǎo
- 消化 digestion, digest. xiāo huà
- 猜 guess. cāi
- 花费 in today’s context, 花费 means to spend. huā fèi
- 厨师 chef, cook as in the person. chú shī
Today’s radical is one of my absolute favorite. It’s the grass radical otherwise known as the 草字头. Now, let’s take a look at the character for grass. The character for grass looks like this…
This is the character for grass. And it uses the grass radical right here. Now the character we see the grass radical in today is the 花 of 花费 to spend. So this is our character 花… 花.
花 on its own as a noun means flower and as a verb it means to spend. So flowers oftentimes grow in the grass do they not? Hence, the grass radical. Now many times characters that contain the grass radical have something to do with, yes, grass or leaves or plants. So here is some more examples. 药 medicine. 菜 vegetables. 茶 tea.
Spotlight
Seeing as our fabulous trio continued their exploration of snack street today, we shall continue our coverage of 北京’s snacks and specialty foods. Now are any of you wondering just exactly what 豌豆黄 is? Well, here is the low-down*2.
You take the shells or skins off dry yellowish peas and soak them until they’re soft. Then you boil them until they’re cooked, and once that’s done, you get rid of all the water, and add sugar. And cook it all down some more for at least thirty minutes. Once that’s done, you let your mixture cool. And as it cools, it solidifies. It’s then cut into squares, and is ready to be eaten.
Now I’m guessing most of you have heard of or maybe even tried Beijing duck. But what about 涮羊肉? 涮 is to dip. And 羊肉 is mutton. Now this is the traditional hot pot meal, and yes, various kinds of hot pot meals can be found all over China, but 北京 is especially known for its lamb hot pot.
Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of hot pot, it’s essentially a pot of boiling soup that is set in the middle of the table. And you cook your food in it right at the table.
A sight you might see anywhere around town is people selling candied crab apples, candied hawthorns*3 and any number of candied fruits.
There are specific places to go if you want the most authentic versions of these treats, but there are plenty of street vendors that sold them as well. The fruit is stuck on a stick much like a skewer and then covered in caramelized sugar. It’s delicious.
Primer
OK it’s time to take a look at our language points of the day. And we’ll start with one that’s quite straightforward 小看. 小看 is the verb that means to underestimate or look down upon something.
你可别小看这个豌豆黄. Don’t you underestimate 豌豆黄. Not too hard right? OK let’s get some more examples of how to use 小看.
- 要我帮忙吗？／你太小看我了，看我的。
- 这张邮票很普通啊。／别小看它，可值钱了。
Next up we have a pattern: something 不是 something 吗? It’s used to ask a rhetorical question. So we’re talking about the pattern that is used to emphasize affirmation or negation. Now in today’s dialogue 小明 says to Mike 好不好吃, 试试不是就知道了吗. If you try it, you know whether it’s good or not, right? 他不是你哥哥吗? He is your brother, isn’t he?
- 你不是说你今天要去长城吗？／是啊，马上出发。
- 我不是早跟你说过别迟到吗？／不好意思。
被. 被 is used in a passive sentence to introduce the agent or doer. Very much like how we use “by” in English. Now today 兰兰 said 这么多豌豆黄被你一个人吃光了. All this 豌豆黄 was eaten by you alone? 我的书被他借走了. My book has been borrowed by him. Now, 被 can be a little tricky to grasp at first but we’ll be seeing you come up a lot. So you all get it down in no time, trust me. For now, let’s look at some more examples of 被.
- 别唱了，我都快被你吵死了。／你要懂得欣赏。
- 对不起，足球被我弄坏了。／没事，我再去买个新的。
OK everyone that just about wraps up our show for today. If there’s anything you’d like to review or go over please don’t forget to visit our website.
Now today marks the end of our coverage of 北京’s specialty snacks, so don’t forget to add snack street to your list to places to visit while you’re here in town. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Good luck with your Chinese studies everyone. 加油, I’ll see you next time. 下次见.
