舌尖上的中国第1季 第9期:自然的馈赠-莲藕(1)

 It needs patience and skill to dig up a complete lotus root. 挖藕要有耐心和技巧才能取出完整的一段藕。

Locate it first and figure out its length, and then clear away the silt¹ around it, bit by bit. 摸清楚整根藕的走势和长度，然后再逐段地清除淤泥。

If it is broken and contaminated² with silt, the value will be ruined. 藕断了就破了卖相，灌进了淤泥，就更卖不出价格。

So workers must be very careful to dig the root out without breaking it. 所以每一个挖藕人都要小心地把藕完整地挖出来。

Lotus root is rich in starch³.Hubei natives are good at cooking it. 藕是一种含淀粉丰富的蔬菜。湖北产藕湖北人更会吃藕。

A fried lotus root sandwich is always cooked this way. 制作藕夹。

Peel the skin, cut it into thin slices, place minced⁴ meat stuffing evenly in between two slices. 藕去皮，切成薄的连刀片，用筷子夹肉馅儿塞入藕内，使肉馅儿能够均匀分布。

Then dip the raw sandwich in flour paste and fry until it turns golden. 藕夹入面浆挂上面糊，温油炸至金黄。

Lotus root is a kind of natural food that demands a lot of human labor⁵. 藕是一种饱含了人工劳动的自然食材。

So it has more added value than any other vegetable. 因此附加在藕上的价值要比其他蔬菜都高。

The only way to get lotus root is to harvest it by manpower. 要想得到藕，唯一的方式就是用人力来挖。

No matter how large a lake is, lotus root cannot be harvested by machine. 无论多么大的藕田也没有任何机械化的采藕工具。

When harvest season comes, workers leave their hometowns for the production areas. 采藕的季节，他们就从老家安徽无为赶到有藕的地方。

Every year, Maorong and Shengwu work away from home for 7 months. 每年茂荣和圣武要只身出门7个月。

It's a comfortable salary that attracts them to do the job. 较高的人工报酬使得圣武和茂荣愿意从事这项艰苦的工作。

They understand that the harder the job is, the more money they will earn. 因为他们懂得环境越是恶劣，回报越是丰厚。

1 silt   

n.淤泥，淤沙，粉砂层，泥沙层；vt.使淤塞；vi.被淤塞

参考例句：

• The lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.湖里几乎快被淤泥和植物填满了。
• During the annual floods the river deposits its silt on the fields.每年河水泛滥时都会在田野上沉积一层淤泥。

2 contaminated   

把…弄脏，污染( contaminate的过去式 )； 玷污，毒害，腐蚀（人的思想或品德）

参考例句：

• The drinking water has become contaminated with lead. 饮用水被铅污染了。
• The site was found to be contaminated by radioactivity. 发现此地受放射线污染。

3 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

4 minced   

v.切碎( mince的过去式和过去分词 )；剁碎；绞碎；用绞肉机绞（食物，尤指肉）

参考例句：

• He minced over to serve us. 他迈着碎步过来招待我们。
• A young fop minced up to George and introduced himself. 一个花花公子扭扭捏捏地走到乔治面前并作了自我介绍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。