to sear / to flirt with
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to sear
To briefly fry food, especially meat or vegetables, in fat over high heat so that it develops a brown crust.
Für ein gutes Gulasch muss man das Fleisch zuerst scharf anbraten.
For a good goulash, you first have to sear the meat over high heat.
'Anbraten' (to sear/to flirt with) is a separable verb. The prefix 'an-' comes at the end in main clauses. In subordinate clauses and in the infinitive with 'zu', the verb stays together.
Ich brate die Zwiebeln für die Soße an.
I sauté the onions for the sauce.
You can recognize the meaning from the object: If 'anbraten' refers to food (meat, vegetables), it is about cooking. If it refers to a person (someone, her, him), the colloquial meaning 'to flirt' is meant.
Braten Sie das Hähnchen von beiden Seiten goldbraun an.
Sear the chicken on both sides until golden brown.
In a cooking context, 'anbraten' (to sear) is often combined with adverbs such as 'scharf' (over high heat), 'kurz' (briefly), or 'goldbraun' (golden brown). Typical objects are 'Zwiebeln' (onions), 'Fleisch' (meat), or 'Gemüse' (vegetables).
Für das Rezept müssen Sie die Zwiebeln nur kurz in Öl anbraten.
For the recipe, you only need to briefly sauté the onions in oil.
The meaning 'to flirt' or 'to hit on' is purely colloquial. You would not use this expression in formal or neutral situations.
Ich mag es nicht, wenn man mich in einer Bar so plump anbrät.
I don't like it when someone hits on me so crudely in a bar.
to fry / roast
'braten' and 'anbraten' both belong to cooking with hot fat. 'braten' describes the whole cooking process: the food is cooked in a pan or in the oven until it is done. 'anbraten' usually means only the first, short step over high heat, so that meat or vegetables become brown on the outside. After that, they can be cooked further, for example by braising or finishing in the oven. Learners easily confuse the words because both can happen in a pan. As a memory aid: 'anbraten' is short and at the beginning, while 'braten' can be the whole process.
Ich brate die Zwiebeln kurz an, bevor ich die Soße koche.
I briefly sauté the onions before I cook the sauce.
Heute brate ich Fisch mit Kartoffeln in der Pfanne.
Today I am frying fish with potatoes in the pan.