Starting the barbecue with 肉を焼く
Vocabulary Explanation: Collocations for cooking
Sami stayed out until evening at the home of Misuzu, an older girl who had helped her, and her father was worried sick. To thank Misuzu, he invites her to a barbecue in the yard. Misuzu’s older sister brings her over, insisting they’ve come to apologize, not to enjoy the barbecue, though Misuzu is already drooling.
- パパ:
- 「じゃあ早速肉を焼こう！」
- “Okay, let's get the meat grilling right away!”
- サミ:
- 「わーーい！！ 肉ーーー！！」
- “Yaaay!! Meeeat!!”
Key Points
1肉を焼く = to grill meat
- 焼く covers grilling, broiling, pan-frying, and baking. English picks a verb by the method, but Japanese uses 焼く for meat whether it’s on a barbecue grill, over coals, or in a frying pan.
- Barbecue is 肉を焼く territory. Sami’s father isn’t asking anyone to cook a dish from scratch. He’s putting meat on the grill, so 料理する or 作る would sound wrong.
2焼こう = let’s grill
- 焼こう is the volitional of 焼く. The final く becomes こう. Said to a group, it invites everyone into the action: “let’s grill”.
- The plain volitional suits a relaxed setting with kids. A host speaking to adult guests might say 焼きましょう instead.
3じゃあ早速 = okay, right away
- 早速 means doing something at once, without delay. It often follows a greeting or arrival, when people move straight on to the main event.
- じゃあ marks the shift: the greetings are done, so now it’s time to eat.
Vocabulary
早速 (Promptly)
早速 describes doing something right away, without delay.
肉 (Meat)
肉 is meat, the flesh of animals eaten as food. It also means the flesh of the body or the soft part of a fruit.
焼く (To bake)
焼く is to bake, grill, or roast food. It also means to burn something.
See Also
- Vocabulary: Collocations for cooking
- Grammar: Volitional with 〜う・〜よう
ぼくの魔なむすめ © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.