A thickener is something you add to a liquid to make it thicker — less runny, more like a sauce or a cream. In the kitchen, the usual ones are cornflour (cornstarch), flour, and egg yolk; in Taiwan we mostly use 太白粉 (potato/tapioca starch) stirred into cold water first.

A thickener is something you add to a liquid to make it thicker是你加進液體裡讓它變濃稠的東西 — less runny, more like a sauce or a cream不那麼稀,比較像醬汁或奶油。In the kitchen在廚房裡, the usual ones are cornflour (cornstarch), flour, and egg yolk常見的是玉米粉、麵粉和蛋黃; in Taiwan we mostly use 太白粉 (potato/tapioca starch) stirred into cold water first在台灣我們大多用太白粉先跟冷水拌開。

So a thickener is not an ingredient you taste. It is an ingredient that changes how the liquid moves.

So a thickener is not an ingredient you taste所以增稠劑不是你嚐得到味道的食材。It is an ingredient that changes how the liquid moves它是一種改變液體流動方式的食材。

The word is also used outside cooking, and this is where students meet it in a strange place: on the ingredients list of processed food. Yogurt, ice cream, salad dressing, shampoo, paint, and even some medicines contain thickeners — added not to feed you but to give the product a nicer body, so it does not separate or run off the spoon. On a package you often see it in the plural, or as a label: 'thickener (E1442)'. In that use it sounds technical and slightly industrial, the language of a factory rather than a home kitchen.

The word is also used outside cooking這個字也用在下廚以外的地方, and this is where students meet it in a strange place學生常常在一個意想不到的地方遇到它: on the ingredients list of processed food就是加工食品的成分表上。Yogurt, ice cream, salad dressing, shampoo, paint, and even some medicines contain thickeners優格、冰淇淋、沙拉醬、洗髮精、油漆,甚至有些藥品裡都含有增稠劑, added not to feed you but to give the product a nicer body加進去不是為了讓你吃,而是讓產品的質地更好, so it does not separate or run off the spoon讓它不會分層,也不會從湯匙上流掉。On a package you often see it in the plural, or as a label: 'thickener (E1442)'包裝上常常寫成複數,或標示成 'thickener (E1442)'。In that use it sounds technical and slightly industrial這種用法聽起來很技術、有點工業感, the language of a factory rather than a home kitchen比較像工廠的語言,不是家庭廚房的語言。

Grammatically it is a normal countable noun: a thickener, two thickeners, no thickener. It comes straight from the verb 'thicken', so if you know 'the sauce thickened', you already know what the tool for that job is called. Note that the word describes a role, not a substance — the same cornflour is a thickener when you use it to thicken something, and just cornflour when it is sitting in the cupboard.

Grammatically it is a normal countable noun文法上它是個普通可數名詞: a thickener, two thickeners, no thickener像 a thickener、two thickeners、no thickener。It comes straight from the verb 'thicken'它直接來自動詞 'thicken', so if you know 'the sauce thickened', you already know what the tool for that job is called所以如果你知道 'the sauce thickened',你就已經知道做這件事的工具叫什麼了。Note that the word describes a role, not a substance要注意這個字形容的是角色,不是物質本身 — the same cornflour is a thickener when you use it to thicken something同一包玉米粉,拿來勾芡的時候就是 thickener, and just cornflour when it is sitting in the cupboard放在櫃子裡沒用到的時候就只是玉米粉。