Definition

Danh từ (Noun): - Caramel: A sweet, brown substance made by heating sugar, used for flavoring or coloring food. This is the primary culinary meaning of "đường thắng" in modern Vietnamese.

Usage Examples

• Danh từ:
  • Bánh flan thường có nước sốt đường thắng. (Flan cake often has a caramel sauce.)
  • Để làm kẹo cứng, đầu tiên bạn cần thắng đường thành đường thắng. (To make hard candy, you first need to cook sugar into caramel.)

Advanced Usage

• "Thắng đường": This is the verb phrase meaning "to make caramel" or "to caramelize sugar."
  • Cô ấy đang thắng đường để làm bánh. (She is caramelizing sugar to make a cake.)

Variants and Related Words

• Caramen (n): A direct loanword for "caramel," often used interchangeably with "đường thắng."
  • Sữa chua caramen (Caramel yogurt)
• Đường (n): Sugar. "Đường thắng" literally means "cooked sugar."
• Kẹo caramen (n): Caramel candy.

Synonyms

• Nước màu: In some culinary contexts, especially in savory dishes like braised meats, "nước màu" (literally "colored water") refers to caramel used primarily for color, similar to "đường thắng."

Important Note on Homographs

The word "Đường" in Vietnamese has multiple meanings. It is crucial to distinguish "đường thắng" (caramel) from the homograph "Đường thi" (Tang poetry), which is a completely different term. - Đường thi (n): Tang poetry; poetry in the Tang style. - Example: Ông ấy thích ngâm Đường thi. (He likes to recite Tang poetry.) - These are separate lexical entries. "Đường" in "Đường thi" refers to the Tang Dynasty, not to sugar or a road.

1. Caramel
   • Đường thi
     Tang poetry; poetry in the Tang style
   • Ngâm Đường thi
     To declain Tang poetry
   • Làm một bài Đường thi
     To compose a poem in the Tang style