Lu Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:30 PM Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:30 PM In the book I'm currently translating, the father of the main character, a city man, marries her mother, a village woman. Then, 一个星期以后，我外婆和舅舅拎着两只活鸡和一袋年糕面坐长途来到济南，想去拜访一下亲家，结果被我爸爸拦下了。 ETA: this happens in 1978-1980 or so. The wife's parents (我's grandparents) are from a very small village. My question: what can 年糕面 be here? My trusted Chinese food translation source (tokowijzer.nl, it's the best website for all Dutch-language Chinese food information) doesn't know it. The only results I find online are about noodles with 年糕, but that wouldn't be something you take a bag full of on a long-distance bus ride, so it must be something else. Does anyone know? @abcdefg perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:37 PM Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:37 PM Try adding 韩国 in front of your search for 年糕面. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:44 PM Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:44 PM 4 minutes ago, 889 said: Try adding 韩国 in front of your search for 年糕面. That still doesn't look like something a village woman would take on a long-distance bus ride to give as a present to her daughter's new in-laws. I should have mentioned all this takes place in 1978-1980 or so. It looks really tasty though, the 韩国年糕面! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post If_IwasaLinguist Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:48 PM Popular Post Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 at 01:48 PM I went to search the source text and tried to get some hints from its context. And then I would like share my thoughts. This part of the story happened at the beginning of the marriage of the author's parents. Although the author's grandpa on her mother's side disagreed with his daughter's marriage with her father, they finally got married. After the marriage, the grandma on her mother's side and her mother's elder brother brought a few things (including this 年糕面) visited some relatives in Jinan. I think your opinion is correct because nobody will bring some noodles to visit others. However, the time of this story happening is also important for figuring out what 年糕面 is. In my opinion, I may say it is the flour used to make 年糕. The reason is that at that time (around 1976), these ingredients like flour, rice and meat were very short because they are allocated a fixed amount. For example, there were five people (2 adults and 3 children) in your family, you may have a little amount that was just enough for your family. Therefore, if you bring a bag of flour to visit your relatives, it means your home has stored some food. Then, you can imagine how close you and your relatives are and how rich and powerful your family is (LOL). Does it make sense? 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcdefg Posted July 3, 2020 at 07:30 PM Report Share Posted July 3, 2020 at 07:30 PM Sorry @Lu -- I'm not familiar with the term. I like the explanation by the above member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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