Sous Vide: Cooking Made Easy 舒肥 —— 低溫慢煮的哲學 Sous vide cooking is an old restaurant trick that is moving into home kitchens around the world. 舒肥料理法是一項逐漸應用於世界各地家庭廚房的古老餐廳技術。
Sous vide is French for "under vacuum▼." It is a cooking style where the food is put in a plastic bag, vacuum-sealed, and then slowly cooked in warm water over a long period of time. In most cases, this method uses much lower temperatures, between 55?C and 60?C, than normal cooking methods.
While this might sound strange, sous vide has been used in professional kitchens for years. The idea is simple: lower temperatures are easier to control, so food cooks more slowly and evenly. When cooking a steak in a pan, it's easy to burn the outside but leave the inside raw. Using the sous vide method makes sure that everything cooks at around the same speed and prevents cooking the meal too long. In addition, the plastic bag keeps the food moist and full of flavor.
For many years, sous vide equipment was very expensive, so it was only found in high-end▼ restaurants. Thankfully, technology has improved, and prices have come down. Now, sous vide cooking has also become popular in home kitchens, too. Some machines are even connected to Wi-Fi, so you can control them with your smartphone. It doesn't get any easier than that!
seal vt. 封住，封閉
The police sealed all the exits from the building to search for the criminal.
警方封鎖了這棟大樓的所有出口以搜捕罪犯。
method n. 方式，方法
Getting fresh air on a hike in the mountains is one method of improving your brain's functions.
到山裡健行呼吸新鮮空氣是增進大腦功能的一種方法。
evenly adv. 均勻地，平均地
The leader tried to assign all tasks evenly among his team members.
這位組長試圖將所有任務平均分配給他的組員。
* assign vt. 指派，分配
raw a. 生的；未經加工的
Robert had a bad experience eating raw fish years ago, and to this day, he refuses to eat it.
羅伯特幾年前吃生魚肉時有過不愉快的經驗，所以直到現在他仍拒絕吃。
moist a. 濕潤的，微濕的
It has been raining for days, so our laundry from two days ago is still moist.
一連下了好幾天的雨，所以我們兩天前晾的衣服還濕濕的。
equipment n. 用具，設備（不可數）
This hotel is noted for its free exercise equipment and hot springs.
這家飯店以免費的健身器材和溫泉著名。
* be noted for... 以……聞名
thankfully adv. 幸好；滿懷感激地
Thankfully, winter vacation is just around the corner.
謝天謝地，寒假即將來臨。
Beryl thankfully hugged the boy who saved her cat from the flood.
貝瑞兒滿懷感激地擁抱了將她的貓從洪水中救起的男孩。
come down （價格、水平等）下降，降低
With oil prices coming down, gas stations have been piling up with cars waiting to buy gas.
隨著油價下跌，各加油站都擠滿了等候加油的汽車。
* pile up （使）累積／堆積
any + 形容詞比較級的用法
本文 "It doesn't get any easier than that!" 中的 any + 形容詞比較級的用法常用於否定句或疑問句中，表「更……一點」，此時副詞 any 具有「一點／絲毫」的意味。例：
Are you feeling any better?
（你感覺好點了嗎？）
I'm afraid I can't go any further. That is all I can tell you for now.
（我恐怕不能再透漏更多了。我目前能告訴你的就只有這些。）
The method we learned from the Internet is not any safer than what Grandpa had taught us.
（我們在網路上學到的方法一點都沒有比爺爺之前教我們的還要安全。）
