Checking the seasoning with 味付け
Vocabulary Explanation: Collocations for cooking
Kenji’s younger sister Kyoko has made breakfast at home. Kenji sits at the low table eating it.
- キョーコ:
- 「味付け大丈夫？」
- “Is the seasoning all right?”
Key Points
1味付け = seasoning
- 味付け is the noun form of 味を付ける, to season. It names how a dish has been flavored: how salty, sweet, or strong it is. It’s also written 味つけ.
- Kyoko cooked the meal, so she asks about the part that was up to her. A plain 味はどう？ would ask how the food tastes. 味付け points at what the cook did to it.
- Judgments of seasoning usually follow 味付け: 味付けが濃い, too strongly seasoned, and 味付けが薄い, bland.
2大丈夫？ = is it all right?
- 大丈夫 means there’s nothing wrong. As a question it checks for a problem, so 味付け大丈夫？ asks whether the food is too salty, too bland, or otherwise off.
- Casual questions often leave out the particle. The full form is 味付けは大丈夫？, or 大丈夫ですか in polite speech. Between siblings at breakfast, the noun and 大丈夫 with a rising tone are enough.
Vocabulary
味付け (Seasoning)
味付け is the way a dish has been seasoned, or the act of seasoning it with salt, soy sauce, sugar, and so on. People judge it as strong or light: 味付けが濃い, 味付けが薄い.
大丈夫 (All right)
大丈夫 describes being all right, with nothing to worry about. People use it to reassure others, or to politely say “no thanks”.
See Also
- Vocabulary: Collocations for cooking
- Kanji: Taste and meaning with 味
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