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I have seen the phrase おいしくできる a number of times in the context of cooking.
For example in the cover of this
[book](https://www.seitosha.co.jp/book/isbn-9784791620463.html). Does できる mean
“be able to” (be able to cook deliciously) or “be complete” (meal is
deliciously made)?
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2021-09-03T04:12:05.090
90182
2021-09-04T03:56:22.267
38770
question
meaning
What is the meaning of できる in おいしくできる?
The book's title is はじめてでもおいしくできる — that is, "(You) can make it tasty, even if
it's your first time!"

This is just 美味しく + the potential form of する ("make (it) tasty") — since the
potential form of する is できる, we obtain 美味しくできる ("can make (it) tasty").

As for whether this means できる "to be able to" or できる "to be ready, complete",
both senses end up having a similar meaning, but I'd suggest that in the
context of this title, it means "to be ready", because 美味しく出来上がる is a common
phrasing that doesn't necessarily have the "potential" sense of できる.
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2021-09-03T05:00:57.180
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2021-09-03T05:00:57.180
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answer
> はじめてでもおいしくできる!

I'll break down the sentence for you.

[はじめて](https://jisho.org/search/%E5%88%9D%E3%82%81%E3%81%A6), in this case,
functions as an noun meaning 'first time' because is followed by the particle
[でも](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%A7%E3%82%82) that conveys the meaning of
'even'.

おいし is the stem-form of the adjective
[おいしい](https://jisho.org/search/%E7%BE%8E%E5%91%B3%E3%81%97%E3%81%84), which
means delicious in this case.

おいしく is the ku-form of the adjective おいしい. おいしく functions as an adverb in this
sentence.

[できる](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8B) is a verb which
has multiple meanings depending on the context, but, because of the context,
it means 'can'.

To sum up, you have a noun, a particle, an adverb plus a verb:

はじめて(first time) + でも(even) + おいしく(delicious) + できる (can)

We can translate this as `Even the first time can be delicious!`
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2021-09-03T05:03:45.257
90184
2021-09-03T05:20:52.123
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> Does できる mean “be able to” (be able to cook deliciously) or “be complete”
> (meal is deliciously made)?

That's the latter. できる in the context of cooking is 「(料理が)できる」(≈出来上がる),
"(meal) is prepared, cooked", rather than the potential form of 「(おいしく)する」(can
make the food tasty).

「ケーキをおいしくすることができる」のではなく、「ケーキ **を** おいしく **作る** 」→「ケーキ **が** おいしく **できる・できあがる**
」って意味です。

This できる is defined as follows in 明鏡国語辞典:

> で・きる【出来る】  
>  〘自上一〙  
>  ❶ 事物が新たに生じる  
>  ㋑ **ものごとが意図的に作り出される。**  
>  「駅前にマンションが **できる** 」  
>  「組合［原稿］が **できる** 」  
>  「食事が **でき** ました」

And this できる is very often used in recipes, eg:

> 「 **簡単にできる** シーザードレッシング」([cookpad](https://cookpad.com/recipe/6917745))

Here it's saying 「ドレッシングが簡単にできる」, "Dressing will be **made/prepared easily**
", not "You can make the dressing easy".

> 「 **１５分でできる** 蒟蒻とちくわの煮物」([cookpad](https://cookpad.com/recipe/2367857))

This できる is also "is prepared/cooked", not the potential form of 「15分で **する**
蒟蒻とちくわの煮物」, which would make little sense.

> 「 **残り物でおいしくできる** 」([Rakuten
> recipe](https://recipe.rakuten.co.jp/recipe/1890000651/))

This できる is also "is prepared/cooked". 「残り物でできる」 would also make sense, and
the できる is not the potential form of する because 「残り物でする」 would make little
sense. それに、特に「残り物」によって料理 **を** 美味しく **する** = 変化させる ことができますよ、というのは変ですから、残り物でも料理
**が** 美味しく **出来上がり** ますよ、という意味だと捉えるのが普通だと思います。
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2021-09-03T07:44:59.910
90185
2021-09-04T03:56:22.267
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answer