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年夜饭必吃的“硬菜”,用英语怎么说?

双语君 中国日报双语新闻 2023-03-09

在春节的各项习俗中,年夜饭是中国人最为牵挂和期盼的。


人们奔赴千里赶回家,为的就是和家人团聚一堂,吃一顿热热闹闹的年夜饭(Chinese New Year's Eve dinner / reunion dinner)


各地年夜饭都有一些必吃的“硬菜”(main course),说起来就能勾起浓浓思乡情。


图源:视觉中国


你家的年夜饭里有没有:


东北的小鸡炖蘑菇 Stewed chicken with mushroom
广东的白切鸡 Boiled chicken served cold
北京的烤鸭 Peking duck
湖南的炖猪蹄 Stewed pig's feet
广西的螺狮鸡 Stewed chicken with spiral shells
江苏的盐水鸭 Boiled salted duck
黑龙江的酸菜白肉血肠 Stewed pickled cabbage with pork and black pudding
福建的佛跳墙 Buddha jumps over the wall
台湾的蒜蓉蒸乌鱼子 Steamed mullet roe
内蒙古的手扒羊肉 Mutton eaten with hands
陕北小米年糕 Millet cake
澳门意头菜 Dish with good intentions
新疆烤包子 Roasted stuffed bun

光报是菜名就已经让人口水直流……


这些传承多年的菜品蕴藏着怎样的寓意呢?


鸡:吉祥圆满



过年吃鸡寓意吉祥,因“鸡”字发音与“吉”相似,所以成为各地年夜饭必备。


图源:视觉中国


过年吃鸡,尽量吃整鸡,一锅鸡汤摆在餐桌中间,寓意团团圆圆、齐齐整整。


Chicken is a homophone for ji (meaning "good luck" and "prosperity"). That is one thing that makes it such a welcome dish at reunion dinners. Chicken is usually served whole - head and feet included - to symbolize "unity" and "wholeness", while also signifying "a good beginning and end" to the year.


homophone n. 同音异形异义字


鱼:年年有余



鱼,也是一道全国各地公认的年夜饭必备菜肴。


鱼与“余”(surplus)同音,除夕吃鱼象征着“年年有余”(having abundance year after year)


图源:视觉中国


在南方一些地区的习俗中,鱼是最后一道剩下的菜,表示每年都有盈余;还有些地方只有到初一才吃鱼头和鱼尾,这表达了一年的开始和结束都有富余的美好愿望。


The fish should be the last dish eaten leaving some leftover, as this has auspicious symbolism for there being a surplus every year. This is practiced north of the Yangtze River, but in other areas, the head and tail of the fish shouldn't be eaten until the beginning of the year, which expresses hope that the year will start and finish with a surplus.


盆菜:福财满盆



广东人吃年夜饭是最讲究的,很多菜品都有自己的寓意,就为了讨个“好彩头”。


他们有一道“群英荟萃”的菜肴——盆菜pen cai / fortune pot)


图源:视觉中国


盆菜里聚齐了漂亮的食材,有猪、鸭、鸡、鳝、虾、蚝、蔬、汤,象征着富足,标志着新一年的美好开始。


This multi-layered Chinese New Year delicacy is filled to the brim with luxurious ingredients – and for good reason. By layering the pot with premium seafood and meat, it literally symbolizes wealth and abundance to mark the start of the new year.


盆菜的食物会按一定次序一层叠一层地排好。上层会放些较名贵的食物,例如鲍鱼、大虾;最下层则放些容易吸收汤汁的食材,如猪皮和萝卜。


虾:开开心心



虾在年夜饭中也是随处可见。在广东,因粤语中“虾”的发音同普通话的“哈”,虾就成为了活泼、快乐和好运的代名词。


Shrimp is a popular Chinese New Year dish among Cantonese people. Shrimp represents "liveliness", as well as "happiness" and "good fortune", because the Cantonese word for shrimp, ha, sounds like laughter.


图源:视觉中国


丰富多彩的高级海鲜齐聚一堂,吃的不仅是色香味,更是“和”,一家人吃得团团圆圆、美美满满,这就是过年的意义。


饺子:招财进宝



中国人擅长将水稻和小麦的魔力发挥得淋漓尽致,主食自然是中国年夜饭餐桌上一位千变万化的明星。


在北方和部分南方地区,年夜饭都少不了饺子,汪曾祺在《四时佳馔》中写到,“春节吃饺子,比户皆然”。


图源:视觉中国


我们常认为饺子的英语是dumpling,而其实dumpling的准确意思是“用面包皮裹馅的食物”,并不特指中国的饺子


因此,只有拼音jiaozi才能真正代表这种中国传统食物。


饺子有1800多年的历史,形状做得像中国古代的银锭(silver ingots)。传说新年吃的饺子越多,这一年赚的钱就越多。


With a history of more than 1,800 years, jiaozi is a classic lucky food for Chinese New Year.


Jiaozi can be made to look like Chinese silver ingots. Legend has it that the more jiaozi you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you will make in the new year.


年糕:年年高



年糕也是一种标志性的新年食物,因为它的名字含有“一年更比一年高(getting higher year by year)”的意思。


图源:视觉中国


年糕的英语翻译既可以直接使用拼音niangao,也可以用glutinous rice cake来表示,即糯米糕。


Reach higher highs whenever you chow down on a piece of niangao. This glutinous rice flour dessert is commonly found steamed or fried with a batter to achieve a sweet, sticky, gooey cake that appeals to all ages. It directly translates to “all-year high” which signals a higher level of success in doing business or an incoming promotion at a job for the Chinese.


年糕有甜有咸,比较出名的有西北的黄米炸糕、江南的猪油年糕、福建和台湾的红龟糕等。


红龟糕 图源:视觉中国


汤圆:团圆美满



北方通常在元宵节吃汤圆,但南方一些地方也常在春节吃汤圆,民间有“吃了汤圆大一岁”的说法。


图源:视觉中国


英语有时会把汤圆称作sweet glutinous rice ball,不过更普遍的是直接使用拼音tangyuan。


汤圆的名字和它圆圆的外形(spherical shape),蕴含着团圆美满(wholeness of a family)的寓意。


Tangyuan is made of glutinous rice flour. Its spherical shape symbolizes union and togetherness as each bite could either bursts with sweet or savory fillings of red bean, peanut or black sesame paste.



不管在哪里,中国人都用多姿多彩的年夜饭诠释着爱与团圆。


因此食物的意义不仅是饱腹,它是街头巷尾的年味,是焦虑又幸福的手忙脚乱,菜板上的刀痕和菜汁,锅里冒出的烟,小孩嘴角的油,是忙碌,是喧腾,是一个崭新的年岁……


祝你在热腾腾的年夜饭中,迎来喜乐祥和的新年。


编辑:左卓

实习生:张笑妍

来源:China Highlights Reader's Digest Timeout


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