Language Log

« previous post | next post »

That's how Google Translate renders "Guō bāo ròu 锅包肉", and it sounds pretty good, though it's wrong, as we will discover below.  Baidu fanyi gives "Soul of shadow", for which I have no idea how they got it or what it means in relation to a pork entree.  Microsoft Bing Translator has "Pots and pans of meat", which leaves me wondering how carefully prepared it might be. 

I got interested in this term, "Guō bāo ròu 锅包肉" (lit., "pot package / bag / bundle meat") because of these remarks by Michael Broughton:

Michael's question about "scoop" is especially pertinent.  Indeed, the name of the dish is so intriguing / puzzling that I decided to do a little bit of research on it myself.

First of all, this is supposed to be a Dōngběi 東北 ("Northeastern") specialty.  The term begins with "pot", so one wonders how they also use a "scoop", if indeed there is a scoop involved at all.

Here are the most common English translations for Guō bāo ròu 锅包肉 that I got from quickly scouring the web:

Double Cooked Pork Slices   (18,800 ghits)

Fried Pork in Scoop (11,500)

Pork in a Pot (556,000) — I don't think this one and some of the other translations always refer specifically to "Guō bāo ròu 锅包肉"

Double Cooked Pork (90,300)

Sweet and Sour Pork (1,830,000) — this one definitely has other, more general implications

Twice Cooked Sweet & Sour Pork (8)

Double Fried Pork Slices (564)

Sweet & Sour Crispy Loin Slices (1)

Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork Slices (1,280)

There certainly is no unanimity of opinion about what to call this dish in English, and it's fairly obvious that many restaurants and cooks just strike out on their own and make up idiosyncratic translations.

Well, now, if we're going to clear up this translational hash, the first thing we have to do is point out that translating "bāo 包" as "scoop" is an error.  Rather, "bāo 包" means "parcel; package; packet; pack; sack; bag; bundle; bale; bump; swelling; bun; Mongolian style tent" — along with relevant verbal usages.

So what do these meanings have to do with cooking pork in a guō 锅 ("pot; pan")?

Ah, there's the rub!  They don't have any connection with the preparation of a pork dish in a pot.  It turns out that the "bāo 包" ("packet; parcel", etc., not "scoop") of "guō bāo ròu 锅包肉" ("double cooked pork slices", or whatever) is a corruption of "bào 爆" ("burst; explode; crack; quick-fry").  Since guō bāo ròu 锅包肉 ("double cooked pork slices") is a Northeastern dish, the confusion over "bāo 包" vs. "bào 爆" must be due to topolectal (tonal) reasons.

Here are some basic observations about what the dish is like and how to prepare it.  The phrase  "guō bào 锅爆" (lit., "pan burst") refers to quick stir fry, emphasizing the hot temperature of the oil and the pan as well as the rapid process.  Then you pour in the sauce and cook it again.  In terms of the technique of cooking, translating "guō bào ròu 锅爆肉" as "Pan Fried / Seared Sweet and Sour Pork" would be serviceable. However, "Double Cooked Pork Slices", which is already widely used, also makes sense.

Selected readings

• "Chinglish medley" (2/9/16)
• "A Northeastern topolectal morpheme without a corresponding character" (6/9/20)
• "Dongbei Survival Guide:  You can be funny and emotional in Dongbeihua, but be careful," by Ginger Huang, The World of Chinese
• "Northeastern Mandarin"
• "Russian Loans in Northeast and Northwest Mandarin: The Power of Script to Influence Pronunciation" (1/23/11)
• "Manchu loans in northeast Mandarin" (10/7/13)
• "Varieties of Mandarin" (10/25/17)
• "Shifting valences of 'throwing the pot' in Chinese" (5/14/20)
• "The further elaboration of a flagrant mistranslation" (8/31/13)
• "Meat patty explode the stomach" (12/28/11)
• "Explosion Cheese Durian Pie" (9/23/19)

[Thanks to Jinyin Cai]

February 23, 2021 @ 7:39 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Language and food, Topolects, Translation

Permalink