Japanese with Manga

A matsutake that tastes of saury with 魚を焼く

Vocabulary Explanation: Collocations for cooking

Mom, in an apron with chopsticks in hand, explains with a bead of sweat on her face. Across the dinner table, Maruko stares at her blankly.
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A neighbor brought the family some matsutake mushrooms, and Maruko begged Mom to grill one on the stove. At dinner she takes her first bite and beams. Matsutake are a surprise, she says, delicious with a slight taste of saury.

お母(かあ)さん:
「…魚(さかな)を焼(や)く網(あみ)で焼(や)いたからサンマの匂(にお)いが移(うつ)っただけだよ」
“…I only grilled it on the net I use for grilling fish, so it picked up the smell of the saury.”
まる子(こ):
「え…」
“Huh…”

Key Points

1魚(さかな)を焼(や)く網(あみ) = the net for grilling fish
  • 焼(や)く covers grilling, broiling, and pan-frying. 魚(さかな)を焼(や)く is the everyday way to say you grill fish, and サンマ is the classic fish for it in autumn.
  • The whole clause 魚(さかな)を焼(や)く sits in front of 網(あみ) and describes it. Japanese puts the description before the noun, so this reads “a fish-grilling net”.
  • A 網(あみ) here is a wire grill net set over a gas burner. The same word means a fishing net or a butterfly net.
2網(あみ)で焼(や)いた = grilled it on the net
  • で marks the tool used for the cooking. Compare 網(あみ)で焼(や)く, grilling on a net, with オーブンで焼(や)く, baking in an oven.
  • Mom drops the object. Everyone at the table knows she means the matsutake, so マツタケを would be redundant.
3匂(にお)いが移(うつ)っただけだよ = it just picked up the smell
  • 移(うつ)る means to move or transfer. With smells, colors, and colds, it describes something passing from one thing to another by itself. 匂(にお)いが移(うつ)る is a set pairing.
  • だけ after the verb means “it’s only that”. Mom uses it to deflate Maruko’s praise: the special flavor is just fish smell.
  • から gives the reason, and よ tells Maruko something she didn’t know.

Vocabulary

(Fish)

魚(さかな) is a fish.

(To bake)

焼(や)く is to bake, grill, or roast food. It also means to burn something.

(Pacific saury)

サンマ is a long, slender silver fish caught in autumn and usually eaten salt-grilled. It is also written 秋刀魚(さんま).

(Smell)

匂(にお)い is a smell or scent, usually a pleasant one. It can also mean a hint or air of something.

(To move)

移(うつ)る is to move or shift from one place, position, or person to another. A smell, color, or cold that passes onto something else also 移(うつ)る.

See Also

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