又中又英｜Sizzling

During my many years in Hong Kong, I often went with friends for dinner at the American Restaurant, also known as the American Peking Restaurant, in Wanchai. The restaurant had Northern Chinese cuisine cooked in a way that Westerners liked. It was always full of Westerners on weekends. The restaurant closed in 2018, which disappointed me. Peking Duck was one of its popular dishes, but I am not crazy about Peking Duck. If you are not crazy about something, it means you don’t like it. If you are crazy about something, it means you like it.

One of my favourite dishes there was sizzling beef. The dish was served at the table on a very hot iron platter (large plate). The waiter then poured sauce on it, creating a lot of steam. I thought about the American Peking Restaurant’s sizzling beef after a critic used an idiom to describe J. D. Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate for Vice President in the upcoming US election. Vance’s critic used the idiom all sizzle and no steak. The word “sizzle” means making a sound when frying something, such as an egg.

The American Peking’s sizzling beef dish made a sizzling sound when the waiter poured sauce on it. When someone or something doesn’t measure up to expectations, you can say it’s all sizzle and no steak. If you say your best friend is very talented but he is, in fact, not talented, you can say the friend is all sizzle and no steak. The expression “all talk and no action” has a similar meaning.

我在香港居住的那些年间，不时会跟朋友们去湾仔的美利坚餐厅吃饭，它又名美利坚京菜。餐厅会用一种西方人喜欢的方式煮北方的中菜，每个周末它总是挤满了西方人客。餐厅于二零一八年结业，令我大失所望。北京填鸭是它其中一样最受欢迎的菜式，但我自己就 not crazy about北京填鸭——若你are not crazy about something，意即你并不怎么喜欢它；若你 are crazy about something，意即你很喜欢它。

其中一样我在那里最喜爱的菜式是铁板牛肉（sizzling beef）。这道菜上枱时是盛在一个非常热的铁板盘（platter）里，其后侍应便倒酱汁上去，沸腾出许多蒸气。当一位评论家用一个成语去形容 J. D.万斯之后，我就想起了美利坚京菜的铁板牛肉（sizzling beef）。万斯是前总统唐纳德‧特朗普的竞选拍档，在将要举行的美国大选中竞逐副总统之位。批评万斯的人用了一句成语 all sizzle and no steak， sizzle是煎炸食物例如鸡蛋时所发出的噝噝声。

当美利坚京菜的侍应倒酱汁在铁板牛肉（sizzling beef）上时，确实会弄出噝噝（sizzling）声来。当某人或某事并没有达到预期的期望，雷声大雨点小，你便可以说那是 all sizzle and no steak。若你说你最好的朋友才华横溢，但事实是他并无才能，你可以说那位朋友是 all sizzle and no steak。习语“all talk and no action”，即空口说白话，意思也相近。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻