鶏団子

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 鶏団子 is a noun read とりだんご, referring to a chicken meatball. In the written form, 鶏 identifies chicken as the ingredient and 団子 indicates the rounded shape.
• Basic usage: It can be added to a pot and simmered with vegetables, or described through an ingredient such as ginger that affects its aroma and flavor.
  • 鶏団子を鍋に入れて野菜と煮込んだ。 describes putting chicken meatballs in a pot and simmering them with vegetables; 生姜を加えた鶏団子は香りがよい。 says that chicken meatballs made with ginger have a pleasant aroma.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 鍋に入れて
  • に marks the pot as the destination, and the て-form links putting the meatballs in with the following simmering action.
• 生姜を加えた鶏団子
  • 生姜を加えた modifies the following noun and identifies the meatballs as containing ginger; the aroma statement describes the resulting food.
• 鶏団子 and 肉団子
  • 肉団子 can refer broadly to a meatball without naming the kind of meat, while 鶏団子 explicitly identifies chicken.