Definition

Adverb (used after a noun): - Bain-marie, water bath: A cooking method where a container of food is placed within or above another container of simmering water, allowing for gentle, indirect heat. This technique is used to cook delicate foods, melt ingredients like chocolate, or keep food warm without burning or curdling it.

Usage

• This term is used postpositively, meaning it follows the noun it modifies, specifically the name of the dish or ingredient being cooked.
• It describes the cooking technique itself.

Usage Examples

• Nấu cách thủy (to cook using a bain-marie / to cook in a water bath)
  • Cô ấy hấp bánh flan bằng cách nấu cách thủy. (She steams the crème caramel by cooking it in a bain-marie.)
• Món trứng hấp cách thủy (steamed eggs cooked in a bain-marie)
  • Để có kết cấu mịn màng, hãy làm món trứng hấp cách thủy. (For a smooth texture, make steamed eggs using a water bath.)
• Làm tan chocolate cách thủy (to melt chocolate using a bain-marie)
  • Bạn nên làm tan chocolate cách thủy để tránh bị cháy. (You should melt the chocolate in a bain-marie to avoid burning it.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used in culinary contexts. It is a specific technical term for a cooking process.
• It can sometimes be used more broadly to describe any process involving gentle, indirect heating via water, even outside a kitchen (e.g., in a chemistry or cosmetics lab), though this is less common in everyday language.

Variants and Related Words

• Hấp cách thủy: A more specific phrase meaning "to steam using a bain-marie/water bath." This emphasizes the steaming aspect of the method.
• Nồi cách thủy: A double boiler (the pot/utensil used for this method).

Synonyms

• Đun cách thủy: Another way to say "to cook/heat in a bain-marie." (Đun implies heating).
• Hấp (to steam): While similar, hấp can be done directly over steam, not necessarily in a water bath. Cách thủy is a specific type of hấp.

Related Phrases / Collocations

• Phương pháp cách thủy: The bain-marie method / the water bath technique.
• Nấu (đun/hấp) bằng phương pháp cách thủy: To cook (heat/steam) using the bain-marie method.

1. (dùng phụ sau danh từ) Bain-marie, water bath (Mỹ)
   • nấu cách thủy
     to cook in a bain-marie