Mandarin Translation needed

[InkblotJo]

I'm new to these forums, so I apologize if this is out of place. If I wanted to ask for sauce on the side in Mandarin in a Chinese restaurant, how could I phrase that? Thanks for the help.

[Robert Lauriston]

For most Chinese dishes, "sauce on the side" is impossible.

[Cary]

One random dish that popped in my mind is zha jiang mian.

but yes..."sauce on the side" may be difficult to get unless the dish normally comes with the sauce on the side.

[jumpingmonk]

Wouldn't zha jian mian without sauce on top basically be a pile of plain boiled thick noodles? Assuming I'm thinking of the same dish (that's the one that usually translated here in the US as "Noodles with Peking sauce" or Noodles with minced meat sauce", right? Sorta like the Chinese version of spaghetti and meatsauce) . Granted there have been many times when I wished they would serve it on the side (I'm currently doing a taste quest to try all versions of this served in Manhattan, and there are a few that have been so heavily oversauced I had to eat them with a spoon!) so I can sort of see why someone would want it on the side.
Actually speaking of noodles, Hong Kong style Lo/La mein/mian might be the closest thing I can think of to what the poster is describing. With that you usually get served the noodles and whatever solids you ordered on one plate (maybe with the oyster sauce already added) and the "sauce" (i.e. the broth) in a seperate bowl, for you to mix to your own taste.

[Robert Lauriston]

I often see people at zazang places get the black bean sauce in one bowl and the noodles in another. But that is a dish where the sauce is made separately and ladled onto the noodles rather than created in a wok during cooking.

[ipsedixit]

But that is a dish where the sauce is made separately and ladled onto the noodles rather than created in a wok during cooking.

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What??

When is zha jiang mian ever made with sauce pre-mixed, in the wok much less. The noodles in zha jiang mian are not stir-fried, but simply boiled with the sauce added on top, or the side.

[Cary]

That is what Robert said....

[jumpingmonk]

This reminds me of a very interesting story about ZJM I heard once. It's complete BS, but clever BS, so it bears repeating.

The story comes from the day, a few years ago when I ordered some ZJM from the (now out of business) UES branch of Hunan Balcony, makers of one of the best versions of ZJM in NYC I have ever tasted (as opposed to the still in business UWS branch, which makes one of the worst.) On the menu, they used to claim that the recipie they used was the exact same one that Marco Polo was served (probable BS). When I once asked if this was true they claimed that not only was it true, but that that is why Italians serve pasta the way they do (boiled with the sauce poured over them) as opposed to cooking the noodles and the sauce together (definfite BS, as the whole "Marco Polo brought noodles back to Italy" story is BS in and of itself). (Let's leave Italian Baked pasta dished out of it for the moment).

[ipsedixit]

If I were to visit the Far East, I don't think the first thing (food-related) I would bring back to the West would be noodles of all things.

[klyeoh]

Agree about the Marco Polo thang. Noodle-like pasta was consumed in Italy even before Marco Polo went to China.
Our Chinese forefathers learnt noodle-making from the Central Asians, we didn't invent it ourselves ;-)

[scoopG]

Maybe not.

http://ancientfoods.wordpress.com/200...

[limster]

You'll see a slightly similar scenario with the Yunnanese "crossing the bridge" noodles, where the noodles are served with various ingredients and soup, all separate.

[limster]

I wouldn't generalise that far. It may mostly apply to stir-fries and stews, but remember that there's also lots of cooking using other techniques in the various Chinese cuisines where the sauce is made separately, as would also be the case in many noodle and rice dishes, even ones involving stir-frying. And there are several examples where a very simple (often out of the bottle) sauce (perhaps a bit closer to a condiment, but not exactly) is normally served on the side for dipping, such as a black vinegar for completing simply cooked prawns or a sticky dark soy sauce with minced garlic that accompany many southern Fujian dishes, or a sweet wheat sauce/tian2 mian4 jiang4 with Peking duck. Other examples abound in various dim sum items or dumpling e.g. cheong fun, xlb and spring rolls.

[ipsedixit]

But all of your examples are where the sauce is already plated on the side, no need to request it.

[limster]

I mentioned that there are dishes where the sauce is served with the dish but made separately and there are dishes where the sauce is served separately. Only gave examples of the latter category, since folks have already provided examples of the former. Happy to add more if you like. And in the cases of cheong fun, it is a dish where the sauce is normally served with the item, not on the side.

[ipsedixit]

For most Chinese dishes, "sauce on the side" is impossible.

_________________________________________

One that comes to mind is 蠔油芥蘭, or Chinese broccoli with Hoisin Sauce.

[Cary]

I think you mean Oyster sauce there...
Hoisin sauce on Chinese Broccoli *blech* =P

[ipsedixit]

In Mandarin, it would read as follows: 醬就在旁邊

Phonetically, try "jiang jiù zài pángbiān"

But really, it depends on what dish and what kind of sauce you are talking about.

More info would be helpful.

[InkblotJo]

Thank you so much!

[K K]

How about 醬汁分開 (jiang jir fen kai) or "sauce separate"

[ipsedixit]

Absolutely.