Definition
小菜 literally means 'small dish' and covers several related food meanings: pickled vegetables or side dishes served with a main meal, and by extension any ordinary dish of meat, fish, or vegetables. Colloquially it describes an easy task or 'piece of cake', since something as simple as a side dish requires little effort. Context determines which sense is intended.
noun
pickled vegetablesside dish (often served with rice)common dish of meatfishor vegetables (served alongside staple food)
n.
(noun, colloquial) easy tasksomething simple
Examples
- 小菜。Tā měitiān zǎoshang dōu chī yì wǎn zhōu pèi yì dié xiǎo cài.He eats a bowl of congee with a dish of pickled vegetables every morning.
- 小菜，。Jīntiān de wǔfàn yǒu sì ge xiǎo cài, yí ge tāng.Today's lunch has four side dishes and one soup.
- 小菜，。Zhège biānchéng tí duì tā lái shuō jiù shì xiǎo cài, shí fēnzhōng jiù xiě wán le.This programming problem was a piece of cake for him; he finished writing it in ten minutes.
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