I'm a bit worried about writing this lesson.

Mainly because we're looking at Japanese that I just can't seem to translate into English naturally.

Specifically, we're looking at the verb きく as it relates to food and flavors.

This is not 聞く (きく), "to listen."

Instead this is the きく that means something along the lines of "to be effective."

If you love kanji, then you can write it like this: 効く, or sometimes 利く.

But we're just using hiragana today, which is also fine.

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This word has a really interesting application when talking about food.

For example...

このみそ汁、だしがよくきいてる。
この　みそしる、 だし　が　よく　きいてる。
The dashi in this miso soup is really good.
Literally: "this + miso soup, + dashi + が + well + is being effective."

The first half of that sentence is pretty straightforward, yeah?

このみそ汁
この　みそしる
this + miso soup

Then, if you don't already know, だし is still called "dashi" in English in most cases. Specificially, it is a Japanese soup stock which can be made from things like seaweed, fish, etc.

This site has some recipes for dashi (which is also where that pic comes from).

It's all in Japanese, so have fun.

Anyways, for the sake of simplicity, let's say that dashi is just the soup stock used to make our miso soup.

If it's really good dashi, and the broth is really flavorful as a result, you can say:

だし // が // よく // きいてる
dashi // ga // well // is being effective

I hate translating きいてる as "is being effective," but I'm completely lost as to how to translate this into English naturally. Other definitions of this form of きく include, "to show effect; to do its work; to carry out its function well; to be possible to use."

Maybe you can see why I'm having a hard time with this translation?

Suffice it to say that, in the example sentence above, the dashi is "doing its work," is "carrying out its function well," is... making the miso soup straight-up delicious.

Since I'm having such a hard time translating this phrase, you get to watch me trudge through 5 more example sentences...

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インド料理はスパイスがきいた料理が多い。
インドりょうり　は　スパイス　が　きいた　りょうり　が　おおい。
Indian food has a lot of flavorful spices.
Literally: "Indian cooking + は + spice + が + was effective + cooking + が + many."

Notice the sentence formation we're using here:

A がきいた B
→ a B with an A that's "doing its work."
スパイスがきいた料理

This is different than our first example, which said:

B, A がきいてる
→ B, it's A is "doing its work."
みそ汁、だしがきいてる

Long story short, the "spices" in Indian food add an effective, noticeable "punch."

Moving on...

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もう少し酸味をきかせたほうがいいかな。
もう　すこし　さんみ　を　きかせた　ほう　が　いい　かな。
Maybe we should make it a little bit more sour.
Literally: "a little more + acidity / sourness + を + should make effective + かな."

Now our grammar is getting crazy.

First we put きく into the causative form: きかせる.

→　Then put that into the past tense: きかせた.

→　→　Then add ～ほうがいい to make it mean "should ~:" きかせたほうがいい.

If that doesn't make sense, just act cool and keep scrolling. Nobody will know how lost you are.

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たまねぎの甘みがきいたオニオンスープ。
たまねぎ　の　あまみ　が　きいた　オニオンスープ。
An onion soup with a nice smooth onion flavor.
Literally: "onion + の + sweetness + が + was effective + onion soup."

Rei wrote this sentence, and the first time I saw it, I was like, "Uh... what's an onion's sweetness?"

Well, you know how raw onions have a sharp, intense flavor?

Perhaps you also know that well-cooked onions lose that sharpness and have a smoother, less intense flavor.

For some reason, we can refer to this smoothness as 甘み (あまみ // sweetness [sort of... more like "mildness"]) in Japanese.

Thus, my translation above.

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にんにくを加えるとパンチのきいた味になる。
にんにく　を　くわえる　と　パンチ　の　きいた　あじ　に　なる。
Adding garlic gives the flavor an extra punch.
Literally: "garlic + を + add + と + punch + の + was effective + flavor + becomes."

I don't know why, but I love the word パンチ in Japanese.

My favorite is 猫パンチ (ねこ　パンチ), the "cat punch."

Distraction: Here is a YouTube video:

It's titled:

必殺技 猫パンチが華麗すぎる　
最強の連打！動画まとめ
ひっさつわざ　ねこ　パンチ　が　かれい　すぎる　
さいきょう　の　れんだ！　どうが　まとめ
Special Move Cat Punch Is Too Magnificent
The Most Powerful Barrage! Video Collection

A few notes:

#1 - That's one of the most direct translations I've ever done... just because it's so ridiculous.

#2 - The title of that video is way cooler than the video itself.

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And since we're now 100% off topic, let's look at a type of きく that has nothing to do with food and a type of パンチ that has nothing to do with cats:

パンチのきいたファッションが好き。
パンチ　の　きいた　ファッション　が　すき。
I like impactful, cutting-edge fashion.
Literally: "punch + の + was effective + fashion + が + liked."

That translation is so-so.

What's better are these images Rei and I found when searching for パンチのきいたファッション online:

(Images taken from this page.)

Much punch. Very doing its work.