VOA慢速英语2021 辣酱使花椰菜成为美味的主菜

Spicy¹ Paste Makes Cauliflower a Delicious Main Dish

Cauliflower is a vegetable that can be fixed² in many tasty ways. You can cut it in big pieces and cook it over a fire as if it is meat. You can cook it until it is soft and crush it up, or mash³ it, just like a potato. You can even turn the white vegetable into a stretchy material that you can flatten⁴ and cook like a pizza.

From Greece to Israel to China, cooks from around the world are creative with cauliflower.

Roasting is cooking something for a long time. Cauliflower is delicious when it is prepared this way with a spicy mixture spread all over the vegetable. The mixture, or paste, creates a flavorful surface that browns and gets hard as it cooks. But the rest of the cauliflower softens⁵.

The recipe for this meal is found in "COOKish," a book by chef Christopher Kimball. The book limits itself to recipes of just six ingredients without any sacrifices of flavor.

Kimball says the roasted cauliflower recipe is based on the flavor of gobi Manchurian, an Indo-Chinese dish. The widely popular food is known for its saucy⁶ quality and its salty and sweet spiciness⁷.

The spices used in the paste include the Indian spice blend garam masala, Chinese chili-garlic sauce and simple ketchup⁸. The liquid reduces as the ketchup is heated, which deepens its tomato-based sweetness. The sugars in the ketchup work with the heat to brown the food.

When the cooking is complete, the cauliflower is cut into large pieces. Cut up some green onion into small pieces and throw some on top of each piece. It adds a nice, fresh edge to the already complex flavor of the roasted cauliflower.

I'm Caty Weaver⁹.

Chili-Garlic Roasted Whole Cauliflower

Start to finish: 1 hour 10 minutes (10 minutes active)

Servings: 4

2-pound head cauliflower, trimmed

¼ cup neutral oil

2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon garam masala

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

2 scallions, thinly sliced

Heat the oven to 425°F. Place the cauliflower on a rimmed¹⁰ baking sheet. Mix the oil, chili-garlic sauce, ketchup, garam masala and 2 teaspoons¹¹ each salt and pepper. Brush half the mixture onto the cauliflower, then roast until deeply browned and a skewer¹² inserted into the center meets just a little resistance, 40 to 55 minutes. Brush on the remaining mixture and roast for another 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and sprinkle with scallions.

Words in This Story

chef - n. a professional cook who usually is in charge of a kitchen in a restaurant

ingredient - n. one of the things that are used to make a food, product, etc.

saucy - adj. served with a sauce, a thick flavorful liquid

1 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 mash   

n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情

参考例句：

• He beat the potato into a mash before eating it.他把马铃薯捣烂后再吃。
• Whiskey,originating in Scotland,is distilled from a mash of grains.威士忌源于苏格兰，是从一种大麦芽提纯出来的。

4 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

5 softens   

（使）变软( soften的第三人称单数 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• Iron softens with heat. 铁受热就软化。
• Moonlight softens our faults; all shabbiness dissolves into shadow. 月光淡化了我们的各种缺点，所有的卑微都化解为依稀朦胧的阴影。 来自名作英译部分

6 saucy   

adj.无礼的；俊俏的；活泼的

参考例句：

• He was saucy and mischievous when he was working.他工作时总爱调皮捣蛋。
• It was saucy of you to contradict your father.你顶撞父亲，真是无礼。

7 spiciness   

n.香馥，富于香料；香味

参考例句：

• For that extra spiciness, add powdered nutmeg to taste. 至于要得到那种额外的香味，酌量加入肉豆蔻粉。 来自互联网
• Aside from a graph a thermometer will be used to show spiciness. 除了文字标记以外，还将用温度表图像形象地表达辣度。 来自互联网

8 ketchup   

n.蕃茄酱，蕃茄沙司

参考例句：

• There's a spot of ketchup on the tablecloth.桌布上有一点番茄酱的渍斑。
• Could I have some ketchup and napkins,please?请给我一些番茄酱和纸手巾？

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

10 rimmed   

adj.有边缘的，有框的v.沿…边缘滚动；给…镶边

参考例句：

• Gold rimmed spectacles bit deep into the bridge of his nose. 金边眼镜深深嵌入他的鼻梁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Trees rimmed the pool. 水池的四周树木环绕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 teaspoons   

n.茶匙( teaspoon的名词复数 )；一茶匙的量

参考例句：

• Add two teaspoons of salt. 加两小匙盐。
• Add 3 heaped teaspoons of sugar. 加满满的三匙糖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 skewer   

n.（烤肉用的）串肉杆；v.用杆串好

参考例句：

• I used a skewer to make an extra hole in my belt.我用扦子在腰带上又打了一个眼儿。
• He skewered his victim through the neck.他用扦子刺穿了受害人的脖子。