How does 甘く work in this sentence?


> お汁粉は、 **甘く{あまく}** 煮た小豆の汁に餅などを入れた温かい食べ物です。  
>  Oshiruko is a hot food with a rice cake in a _sweetly_ boiled adzuki bean
> broth.

I think I must be misunderstanding how 甘く is used here, since you can't boil
something in a sweet way.




It's 結果構文 (Resultative Construction). The continuative form of an adjective
(甘く here) represents the resultant state caused by the action (煮る). So 甘く煮る
means "to boil/cook/stew and make sweet" (≂ 煮て甘くする), or "to boil/cook/stew in
such a way that it will become sweet, by adding sugar" (≂ (砂糖で)甘くなるように煮る),
i.e. "boil with sugar".

Like in this phrase, I think 煮る can include the process of flavoring -- you 煮る
the ingredient in flavored water when you make [煮豆]{にまめ}, [煮魚]{にざかな}, シチュー
etc. where the food is usually served with the flavored water. When you boil
the food in unflavored water and drain it, like when you boil 卵, [蕎麦]{そば},
パスタ, vegetables for お[浸]{ひた}し etc, you use the verb [茹]{ゆ}でる.

cf: 「魚を[甘辛]{あまから}く[煮付]{につ}ける」  
"boil/simmer fish in a way that it will be sweet and salty"  
→ "boil/simmer fish with soy sauce and sugar".

A few more examples of 結果構文:

> [壁]{かべ}を[白]{しろ}く[塗]{ぬ}る (≂ 壁を塗って白くする) -- paint a wall white  
>  [部屋]{へや}をきれいに[掃除]{そうじ}する (≂ 部屋を掃除してきれいにする) -- sweep a room clean  
>  ご[飯]{はん}をおいしく[炊]{た}く -- make good boiled rice  
>  [靴]{くつ}をピカピカに[磨]{みが}く -- polish/shine shoes well  
>  [髪]{かみ}を[短]{みじか}く[切]{き}る -- cut one's hair short  
>  [息子]{むすこ}を[立派]{りっぱ}に[育]{そだ}てる -- bring up one's son to be a
> fine/respectable man




It's 結果構文 (Resultative Construction). The continuative form of an adjective
(甘く here) represents the resultant state caused by the action (煮る). So 甘く煮る
means "to boil/cook/stew and make sweet" (≂ 煮て甘くする), or "to boil/cook/stew in
such a way that it will become sweet, by adding sugar" (≂ (砂糖で)甘くなるように煮る),
i.e. "boil with sugar".

Like in this phrase, I think 煮る can include the process of flavoring -- you 煮る
the ingredient in flavored water when you make [煮豆]{にまめ}, [煮魚]{にざかな}, シチュー
etc. where the food is usually served with the flavored water. When you boil
the food in unflavored water and drain it, like when you boil 卵, [蕎麦]{そば},
パスタ, vegetables for お[浸]{ひた}し etc, you use the verb [茹]{ゆ}でる.

cf: 「魚を[甘辛]{あまから}く[煮付]{につ}ける」  
"boil/simmer fish in a way that it will be sweet and salty"  
→ "boil/simmer fish with soy sauce and sugar".

A few more examples of 結果構文:

> [壁]{かべ}を[白]{しろ}く[塗]{ぬ}る (≂ 壁を塗って白くする) -- paint a wall white  
>  [部屋]{へや}をきれいに[掃除]{そうじ}する (≂ 部屋を掃除してきれいにする) -- sweep a room clean  
>  ご[飯]{はん}をおいしく[炊]{た}く -- make good boiled rice  
>  [靴]{くつ}をピカピカに[磨]{みが}く -- polish/shine shoes well  
>  [髪]{かみ}を[短]{みじか}く[切]{き}る -- cut one's hair short  
>  [息子]{むすこ}を[立派]{りっぱ}に[育]{そだ}てる -- bring up one's son to be a
> fine/respectable man

