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In the show 人民的名義 the suspect doesn't want to accompany the protagonist on account of his soup getting cold. The protagonist replies "講究啊"(meticulous!)and then:

原湯化原食

None of my many Pleco dictionaries lists 原湯 or 原食,although 原湯 was my phonetic keyboard's first suggestion!

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    I don't know what you're doing with your Pleco - 原汤 is in seven Pleco dictionaries, including one free one (ABC, XHD, PLC, OCC, KEY, HDC & GF).
    – Mou某
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:08
  • @user3306356 good to know. My Pleco still doesn't show it. Might be time for a new installation
    – Ludi
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:16
  • PLC is totally free. Make sure you're up to date and then look in add-on's and see if there is a beta of PLC that needs to be downloaded.
    – Mou某
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:17
  • Thank you very much! This is very important. Indeed my newer iPad shows 原湯 in PLC but this one only shows 原糖。looking into it!
    – Ludi
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:21

1 Answer 1

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原汤化原食 is a kind of eating habit, especially exists in northern areas; means drinking the soup of the dumplings (or noodles etc) after eating them. e.g. for the case of dumplings, 原汤 refers to the water (or you can think it as soup) which used for boiling dumplings, 原食 means dumplings.

一般来讲,“原食”指的是淀粉类食物,比如饺子、面条、馄饨、汤圆等,“原汤”就是水煮这些食物后得到的汤,而“化”有“消化”的意思。所以“原汤化原食”的意思是,汤能够帮助淀粉类食物消化吸收。

(In general, 原食 refers to starchy foods, like dumplings, noodles, wontons, glue puddings etc, 原汤 refers to the water which used for boiling these foods. 化 means digestion, so 原汤化原食 means the soup could help digesting starchy foods.)

There're several various explanations about why people doing this, someone believe 原汤 could help digestion; someone believe 原汤 is nourishing. I prefer to that it's just a habit; people like drinking something after eating and with 原汤 you don't need to cook the soup separately. And I think this article gave a nice summary:

所以,真要较真的话,“专家”们提供的“原汤化原食”的“科学道理”实在是很牵强附会。当然,面汤本身并没有什么不好,与白开水相比,它其中还有一些淀粉甚至维生素。吃完面后喝点面汤,多少也算是节约粮食的表现。如果真的喜欢喝,“喜欢”就是最好的理由。如果非要堆砌一些科学术语来给它一个“科学解释”,可能就是弄巧成拙。

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  • As far as I know, it is customary for Japanese and Vietnamese to finish everything in their noodle soup. Cantonese usually eat all the noodle but leave half the soup unfinished. I have seen many westerners ordering noodle soup and just drink the soup, left most of noodle behind in the bowl. Different culture have different habit when it come to eating noodle soup.
    – Tang Ho
    Oct 17, 2017 at 10:59
  • @TangHo I've heard about Japanese habit about noodle soup, but I never heard the logic similar with 原汤化原食 from them. Yes I think this is just a habit issue.
    – user4072
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:02
  • And why does he say it? Is it like "make sure to drink the broth?"
    – Ludi
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:22
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    @Ludi I'm not sure, I think he meant "don't be picky, you know 原汤化原食 (so better to drink it)".
    – user4072
    Oct 17, 2017 at 11:43
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    @Ludi -- May be he was mocking someone. "講究啊" means "pay attention to details ah?" Praising someone for knowing the myth of 原汤化原食, and finish all the soup , but in fact both of them knew he's looking down on him for being poor.
    – Tang Ho
    Oct 17, 2017 at 13:34

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