「If you were to ask...」の使い方

If you were to ask me what I was doing at 5 pm today, I would tell you that I was cooking. This is a dish called "Buddha's delight", and in Chinese you pronounce it like this:

• Buddha's delight = luóhàn zhāi; a more English-like spelling could be "loo-oh-HAN-jai"

If you asked me for the Chinese characters, I'd give you these (both the traditional Chinese version and the simplified one used in mainland China):

• 羅漢齋; 罗汉斋 (Buddha's delight = luóhàn zhāi)

The pattern I'm using is one that somebody asked me about the other day.

• If you asked... = If you were to ask...

The meaning is to lightly offer some information. Sometimes (not always) there is a nuance that the presented information may be an interpretation of a situation rather than the complete truth or an uncontroversial description.

The difference between the two versions is this:

• If you asked... (casual)
• If you were to ask... (a bit more formal)

It's also possible to change the subject of the "if" clause.

• If a stranger were to ask me where I was from, I might say "Mars".

If you asked me what was in the dish, I'd tell you that it's dried yuba, daylily flowers, shallots, garlic, ginger, green onions, mushrooms, vegetarian oyster sauce, sweet thick soy sauce, soy sauce, and black pepper.

• daylily【名】《植物》萱草◆ユリ科
• shallot【名】《植物》エシャロット（eschalot）
• (definitions from Eijiro on the Web)

If you were to ask me to try it, I'd say "invite me over and I'll try to cook it for you!"