a lot of flak

2019/01/22 04:12:35 網誌分類: 生活

22 Jan

        　　It has been a mild winter so far but Hong Kong people love to eat hotpot in winter even if the weather is mild. The word “mild” when referring to the weather means less cold than normal. People on the mainland also love to eat hotpot, especially in winter. I haven’t eaten hotpot in a long time because the flavor is monotonous (unchanging, boring). I also feel it is unhygienic for everyone to put their raw food into a communal pot at the table and then take them out to eat. The word “communal” means shared by everyone. Besides, I never know how long to cook meat in a hotpot.

        　　My friends laugh whenever I say eating from a communal pot is unhygienic. They say the boiling broth (clear soup) will kill all the germs. Hong Kong’s most famous food and restaurant writer Chua Lam, who also does TV shows, got a lot of flak (angry criticism) on social media here and on the mainland for denouncing (criticizing) hotpot. He said on TV that hotpot is the dish he most wanted to see gone forever. Chua Lam said it is monotonous and not delicious to put different types of food into the same broth. I laughed when I read that because it reminded me of a media trip to Chongqing some time back.

        　　All my media friends at a hotpot dinner dug in (ate with great enjoyment) but the spicy Sichuan broth and the monotony of having to cook every piece of food myself made me lose my appetite. Hotpot is similar to the Western dish fondue because it also uses a communal pot that can be filled with oil, broth, melted cheese, or even melted chocolate, depending on what people want to eat. I used to love fondue when I lived in the US but just as with hotpot, I now feel fondue is monotonous. It is also unhealthy to dip (put quickly in liquid) bread into melted cheese, fruit into melted chocolate, or meat into oil. Some of my friends say Chua Lam is right to denounce hotpot. Others say he just wants to get publicity.

        ＊＊＊

        　　冬天到目前為止還是相當暖和（mild），但香港人很喜歡在冬天打邊爐，即使天氣很暖和（mild）。用mild一字形容天氣，是指氣溫沒平常的那麼冷。內地人也喜歡吃火鍋，尤其在冬天。我已經很久沒有吃過火鍋了，因為那味道頗為單調（monotonous），而且人人也把他們的生食放入枱上那個共用的（communal）鍋裏再拿來吃，令我感覺很不衞生。Communal就是共用、公用的意思。而且，我從來弄不清到底肉在火鍋內要煮多久。

        　　每一次我說要從共用的（communal）鍋裏吃東西很不衞生，朋友們都會笑我。他們說，那個滾着的湯（broth）可以殺掉所有的菌。香港最知名的飲食作家、也做電視節目的蔡瀾痛斥（denouncing）火鍋之後，在本地和內地的社交媒體上遭受廣泛的抨擊（flak）。他在電視上說，他最想永遠消失的一道料理是火鍋。蔡瀾說它單調乏味（monotonous），而且將不同種類的食物一併放進同一鍋湯（broth）中，根本就不好吃。我讀到這則報道時笑了，因為它令我回想起前一些日子我到重慶的某次傳媒訪問團。

        　　在一餐火鍋宴上，我的所有傳媒朋友都吃得津津有味（dug in），但那麻辣的四川湯（broth），以及我得自己動手煮每一樣食物的那種單調乏味（monotony），實在令我食慾不振。打邊爐跟西式的火鍋很相近，因為後者同樣用一個共用的（communal）鍋，盛的可以是油、湯（broth）、溶化了的芝士，甚或是溶化了的朱古力，視乎人們想吃甚麼。我還住在美國的時候，也曾經喜歡吃西式火鍋，但一如打邊爐，我現在也覺得西式火鍋單調乏味（monotonous）。而且，要將麵包浸一下（dip）溶化了的芝士、將水果蘸一蘸朱古力漿，或是把肉浸一下油，都是不健康的。我的一些朋友說，蔡瀾痛斥（denounce）火鍋是對的，但也有人說他不過是想要曝光率。mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

回應 (0)

我要發表

a lot of flak

網誌分類

最新網誌

月曆