Japanese with Manga

Oiling the takoyaki plate with 油をひく

Vocabulary Explanation: Collocations for cooking

Mom, in an apron, holds a small oil brush over a takoyaki griddle on the table. In the lower right corner, Maruko looks up at her with a big smile.
ちびまる子ちゃん » Volume 18 » Page 163

Maruko begged for a takoyaki maker, and Mom said no. Grandpa bought her one anyway, and Maruko talked him into the pricier model with its own burner so they could cook at the table. Mom grumbled, but the two of them pressed her to start making takoyaki right away.

まる子(こ):
「さあ作(つく)ってみようよ」
“Come on, let's try making some!”
お母(かあ)さん:
「じゃあまず油(あぶら)をひいて…」
“All right, first you oil the plate…”

Key Points

1油(あぶら)をひく = to oil a pan
  • ひく here means to spread something thinly over a surface. Cooks ひく oil on a frying pan, a griddle, or a takoyaki plate before cooking so nothing sticks.
  • The kanji is 引く, the same verb as “to pull”, but recipes almost always write it in kana, as Mom’s line does.
  • Compare 油(あぶら)で揚(あ)げる, deep-frying in a lot of oil, and 油(あぶら)で炒(いた)める, stir-frying in a little. With ひく, the oil is the thing being spread, so it takes を.
2じゃあまず〜て… = all right, first you…
  • じゃあ takes up Maruko’s push to get started, and まず marks the first step in a sequence.
  • Mom stops on the て-form. It’s how people talk while walking through steps: “first you do this, and then…”. The next step would follow after the て.
3作(つく)ってみようよ = let’s try making some
  • 〜てみる means to do something to see how it goes. This is their first time using the new griddle.
  • みよう is the volitional form of みる, “let’s”. よ after it presses the suggestion on Mom.

Vocabulary

(To make)

作(つく)る means to create or prepare something.

(To see)

みる is the kana spelling of 見(み)る, “to see”. After a て-form verb, it means to try doing something to see how it goes.

(First)

まず means first, before anything else, and often opens a list of steps. It is also written 先(ま)ず.

(Oil)

油(あぶら) is oil, such as cooking oil or fuel oil. In talk about food, it also covers the fat or grease in a dish.

(To pull; to spread thinly)

ひく, usually written 引(ひ)く, means to pull. In cooking, it means to spread a thin layer of oil over a pan or griddle, as in 油(あぶら)をひく.

See Also

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