疫情中走紅的紐約唐人街燒餅店

How a Queens Shaobing Stall?Survives a Pandemic

STEFANOS CHEN

第一段

As several restaurants in Flushing, Queens, one of the largest Chinatowns in New York City, shut down amid the pandemic, Yukun Shaobing quietly opened inside a?nondescript?mini-mall last September — a seemingly?inauspicious?start.

在紐約最大唐人街之一的皇后區(qū)法拉盛，多家餐館在疫情中關(guān)門。去年9月，鈺錕燒餅在一個(gè)不起眼的小型購(gòu)物中心內(nèi)悄悄開業(yè)——看上去像一個(gè)不吉利的開頭。

Still, the?cramped?food stall of about 100 square feet, with no English-language name or advertising, has?become a hit?in a neighborhood?beleaguered?by Covid-19 and high rents.

這個(gè)狹小的食品攤位約100平方英尺，沒(méi)有英文名或廣告，卻在受到新冠病毒和高租金困擾的社區(qū)中大受歡迎。

The key to that success?is an extensive menu of warm and flaky Shandong-style shaobing, baked?flatbreads?stuffed with?savory and sweet fillings?that have locals, some of the most exacting critics of?Chinese fare, coming back for more.

成功的關(guān)鍵是種類繁多、熱乎酥脆的山東風(fēng)味燒餅——夾著咸甜味餡料的烤面餅。當(dāng)?shù)厝恕渲胁环?duì)中餐極其挑剔的人——都成了它的回頭客。

In a space?scarcely?big enough for the two of them, Ruokun Yu and her business partner, Chunmei Tong, prepare?classic?shaobing containing pork and shrimp,?cumin lamb?and peppered beef, as well as westernized favorites like New Orleans chicken — their version of a sweet-and-savory flavor popularized by KFC in China.

在一個(gè)勉強(qiáng)夠站兩個(gè)人的空間里，于若昆（音）和她的生意伙伴佟春梅（音）準(zhǔn)備傳統(tǒng)的燒餅，燒餅里夾著豬肉和蝦、孜然羊肉和胡椒牛肉，還有像新奧爾良雞肉這樣的西化美食——源自肯德基在中國(guó)推廣的那種甜咸味菜品。

One of the women?helms?the register while the other stuffs?heaping spoons of filling?into handmade dough, then bakes them in a tiny oven. Everything is?made from scratch.

一個(gè)人負(fù)責(zé)收銀，另一個(gè)人將一大勺餡料塞入手工制作的面餅，然后放入一個(gè)小烤箱中烘烤。一切都是手工做出來(lái)的。

The shop’s approach is?emblematic?of what it takes to survive in what was already an?unsparing restaurant business?before Covid-19:?grueling hours, tight margins and a do-it-yourself ethos?that converts passers-by into regulars.

這家店的營(yíng)業(yè)方式和在新冠病毒以前本就艱難的餐館生意的生存方式一樣：累人的工作時(shí)間，緊縮的利潤(rùn)，以及讓路人變成常客的親力親為的理念。

1. Shaobing stall燒餅店 street store/roadside store路邊攤 curbside stand/store/a hole in the wall? joint /eatery joint小吃店

2. inauspicious 不吉利的，不順利的反義詞：auspicious吉祥的（記憶技巧：au〔= av 鳥〕+ spic 看 + ious …的 → 吉兆的）

3. 中文前后兩段是轉(zhuǎn)折的，但英文中沒(méi)有明顯的體現(xiàn)/前面是事實(shí)背景/of的妙用：food stall of about 100 square feet

4. Gain traction/momentum/popularity勢(shì)頭很猛

5. Hit by遭受沖擊

6. Cramped狹小的空間 反義詞：spacious 同義詞：sprawling /cavernous 空間寬廣的

7. The key to that success 成功的關(guān)鍵

8. A menu of種類繁多的 flaky薄脆

9. savory and sweet fillings 香甜的餡料 either sweet or savory可甜可咸

10. Have sb doing sth讓某人成為coming back回頭客

11. Critics：adj critical重要的 sb is critical of sb/sth 某人對(duì)某事至關(guān)重要

12. Prepare做飯prepare lunch做午飯

13. Universalize使普遍化/popularize推廣

14. Helms the register掌管收銀機(jī)

15. Start from scratch白手起家/start from the ground up從頭開始/back to square one回到起點(diǎn)

16. Approach方式方法，手段 take approach to sth

17. Emblematic of什么的象征 symbolize

18. New faces 新面孔/what it takes to 具備..條件/it takes time/courage/money花時(shí)間/勇氣/錢

19. Grueling hours煎熬的，艱苦的工作時(shí)間

20. Ethos：民族精神，社會(huì)風(fēng)尚 ：群體的，不是個(gè)人的

21. Regulars名詞做?？停瑀epeat customer回頭客 patron食客

第二段

The virus has?flattened?businesses citywide, but its effects have often been more insidious on minority-owned shops.?Harassment?and violence against people of East Asian descent has been on the rise since the pandemic began, and Chinese restaurants, many of them owned by immigrants, have been particularly?hit hard by racism, losing customers and suffering?vandalism.

病毒使整個(gè)城市的商業(yè)陷入癱瘓，但對(duì)少數(shù)族裔擁有的商店的影響往往更為隱蔽。自大流行開始以來(lái)，針對(duì)東亞裔的騷擾和暴力行為一直在上升，其中中餐館——許多為移民所有——尤其受到種族主義的傷害，導(dǎo)致顧客流失并遭到惡意破壞。

That this shaobing stall has relied mostly on?patrons?of Chinese descent?speaks to?the changing buying power of communities like Flushing. You will find Yukun Shaobing only on?food delivery apps?that cater to Chinese-speaking customers, like Fantuan. On the counter is a poster with a QR code for the messaging app WeChat, popular among Chinese speakers.

這個(gè)燒餅攤位主要依靠華裔客人的支持，這說(shuō)明法拉盛這樣的社區(qū)的購(gòu)買力正在發(fā)生變化。你只能在面向中文用戶的諸如飯團(tuán)外賣之類的送餐應(yīng)用上找到鈺錕燒餅。柜臺(tái)上有一張帶微信二維碼的海報(bào)，微信在中文用戶中很受歡迎。

“It’s all?by word of mouth,” said Ms. Yu. Every Chinese region has something similar, she said in Mandarin, referring to their menu of 17 shaobing varieties. “We?cater?to them all.”

于若昆說(shuō)：“都是靠口口相傳?！彼闷胀ㄔ捳f(shuō)，每個(gè)中國(guó)地區(qū)都有些類似的東西，她指的是她們的17種燒餅口味?！拔覀?strong>面向所有人?！?/p>

The partners pay $3,000 a month for the stall, and, because space is tight, another $200 to a neighboring business for the use of its prep area. The stall is inside the Landmark Quest Mall, across Roosevelt Avenue from the more popular New World Mall food court.

這對(duì)生意伙伴每個(gè)月要為攤位支付3000美元，并且由于空間緊張，還需要向鄰店再支付200美元以使用它的廚房。她們的攤位位于羅斯福大街較受歡迎的新世界美食廣場(chǎng)對(duì)面的地王大廈內(nèi)。

The two women work seven days a week and, on a good day, can sell about 200 to 300 shaobing, for $3 to $5 a piece. They also sell two sizes of lamb soup, a common?pairing, for $4 or $8. Frozen bags of homemade dumplings are available, Ms. Yu said, because they were bored one night at home.

兩個(gè)人每周工作七天，生意好的時(shí)候可以賣出200到300個(gè)燒餅，每個(gè)燒餅三到五美元不等。她們還出售兩種規(guī)格的羊肉湯，通常和燒餅搭配，價(jià)格為四美元或八美元。于若昆說(shuō)，還有冷凍袋裝的自己包的餃子，是有天晚上在家閑著沒(méi)事做的。

1，insidious 隱蔽的，潛伏的， 由inside變來(lái)?? 類似詞：indoorsy宅的

2，People of East Asian descent 東亞人后裔 ， people of Chinese ancestry 華人的后代，華裔

3，Racism 種族歧視 ，Gender discrimination性別歧視=sexism?? ageism年齡歧視

4，That 引出主語(yǔ)從句

5，Speak to=Point to 表明，指向

6，Poster? 微博發(fā)的帖子?? hired posters 網(wǎng)絡(luò)水軍

7，Community? 圈層文化? community-oriented advertising圈層廣告

8，All by word of mouth 口口相傳

9，Cater 做餐食

10，Prep area 備餐區(qū)

11，A seat across B from C?? A和C之間隔著B?? i.e. He is seating across the table from me.

12，A common Pairing搭配，go with??? A is paired with B =A pair with B?? A跟 B結(jié)對(duì)

第三段

Ms. Yu, 41, and Ms. Tong, 50, first-time business owners, live together in Flushing, where they?split a single bedroom?for $1,000 a month. They’ve worked in a number of Flushing restaurant kitchens, preparing mostly northern-style baked goods and dough, said Ms. Yu, who in 2016 immigrated to New York from Qingdao, China, in search of work. Ms. Tong arrived in 2018 from Liaoning province. When restaurants closed amid the lockdown, the roommates?pooled their savings?and answered an advertisement to lease the tiny food stall.

41歲的于若昆和50歲的佟春梅是首次開店，她們共同生活在法拉盛，在那里她們以每月1000美元的價(jià)格合租了一間臥室。2016年從中國(guó)青島移民紐約找工作的于若昆說(shuō)，她們?cè)诜ɡ⒌脑S多餐廳廚房工作，主要制作北方風(fēng)格的烤餅和面食。佟春梅于2018年從遼寧省抵達(dá)紐約。餐館在封鎖期間關(guān)門時(shí)，兩個(gè)室友看到這個(gè)小小的食品攤位的出租廣告，于是拿出各自的積蓄把它租了下來(lái)。

Despite the pandemic, they’ve been lucky in some ways. Barbie Li, the broker at B Square Realty in downtown Flushing, said a number of businesses were?wiped out?in recent months, allowing rents to fall for new tenants, if only temporarily. Before Covid, Ms. Li said, similar stalls rented for $4,000 a month or more.

雖然有大流行，她們?cè)谀承┓矫孢€是很幸運(yùn)的。法拉盛市區(qū)B Square Realty的經(jīng)紀(jì)人芭比·李（Barbie Li，音）說(shuō)，最近幾個(gè)月，許多店鋪被淘汰，從而使新房客的租金下降，盡管這只是暫時(shí)的。芭比·李說(shuō)，在新冠之前，類似的攤位租金為每月4000美元或更高。這個(gè)攤位位于羅斯福大街上的地王大廈，在大流行期間開業(yè)，在以華人為主的客戶群中大受歡迎。

The pandemic has helped smaller, takeout-friendly restaurants that can adapt to delivery service, Ms. Li said, in some cases improving their business because of reduced competition. And news travels fast — she knows the shaobing stall well; her favorite filling is spicy squid.

芭比·李說(shuō)，大流行幫助了規(guī)模較小、方便外帶的餐館啟用送餐服務(wù)，在某些情況下，由于競(jìng)爭(zhēng)減少，生意變得好起來(lái)。而且消息傳得很快——她對(duì)這個(gè)燒餅攤很熟悉；她最喜歡的餡是辣魷魚。

A recent wave of restaurants in Flushing and other Chinatowns in the city have?tended toward?spicy Sichuan dishes, or hot pot. Several customers said Northern-style street foods, like shaobing, have become less common. Ms. Yu said she plans to expand into a larger space soon, to take on the increased demand.

最近在法拉盛和紐約其他唐人街的餐館趨向于辛辣川菜或火鍋的潮流。幾位顧客說(shuō)，北方風(fēng)味的街頭食品，如燒餅，已經(jīng)變得不那么普遍了。于若昆說(shuō)，她計(jì)劃很快將擴(kuò)充更大的空間，以滿足不斷增長(zhǎng)的需求。

A?masked woman?walked up to the counter in a rush, and asked, “Any cumin lamb?”

一位戴著口罩的女子匆匆走到柜臺(tái)前，問(wèn)道：“還有孜然羊肉的嗎？”

“Give us 15 minutes,” Ms. Yu said.

于若昆說(shuō)：“給我們15分鐘。”

The woman said she’d be back.

那位女士說(shuō)她待會(huì)過(guò)來(lái)。

1. province首字母小寫

2. Pool their savings集中他們的積蓄

3. Answered回應(yīng) an advertisement 這則廣告

4. Foot traffic人流量

5. Mud slinging互撕

6. Newsjacking蹭熱點(diǎn)