I like eating bean products since I was a child. Almost all bean products are like dried bean curd, bean bran, soybean milk, soybean milk, lobster sauce, tofu, tofu and tofu. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm interested in trying it. My favorite bean product is tofu, and the best tofu is tofu ground by my grandmother.
Grandma is from Chongqing. Chongqing people like to eat tofu, which is tender and tough than tofu. With a bowl of white rice and a small dish of homemade Chili sauce, it is called tofu rice locally. For flies restaurants in Sichuan, tofu pudding rice is almost an indispensable dish in the store, and it is also the most common food in Bashu area. Diners who just came out of the mahjong table pulled out a stool and sat down slowly, ordered a big bowl of bean curd with Chili sauce, and quickly swallowed several bowls of rice, which was very comfortable.
The bean curd here does not refer to our common tofu, let alone tofu flower (also called tofu brain). In terms of material composition, tofu is actually the same as tofu and tofu flower, but the time series and coagulant used in the production process are different. The first of the three is tofu brain, which is smooth and tender. It can't be picked up with chopsticks and can only be eaten with a spoon. Tofu brain is tofu, slightly stronger than tofu brain, but the texture is still tender and the taste is fuller. After the tofu is compacted and solidified in the mold, it is tofu, and it is old tofu, which is extremely dense and tough. For a person who has special feelings for Sichuan cuisine, the status of tofu is irreplaceable by any kind of bean products.
There is a small stone mill at home, which my grandmother brought from Chongqing. It's heavy, usually on the balcony. Soak a proper amount of dried soybeans the night before grinding bean curd, rinse them several times before grinding, and then put them on the mill. Grandma always likes innovation. Tofu ground from soybeans is beige. If you add some peeled edamame, the tofu will be blue. If black beans are mixed together, they will be gray. Tofu tastes like different beans. Finally, the bean dregs are filtered out with filter cloth, and the ground juice is poured into a large pot and boiled to become soybean milk. If you like sweet, you can pinch a little sugar and put it in, but nothing will be put in, and it tastes fragrant and delicious enough. I don't know how many times more delicious than the so-called soybean milk brewed with powder on the market. If you are not afraid of trouble, you can also grind peanuts into pulp and filter out the residue. As long as the peanut juice is poured into the soybean milk, the tofu will have a strong peanut flavor.
At this time, the "Danba" used to order tofu appeared. This is a special alkali only found in Sichuan, which can help curing. It turned out to be a big crystal in the shape of rock sugar. Pour a little water on it and it will turn into a light yellow transparent liquid immediately. Put a proper amount of "Danba" into a large spoon, put it into the pot bit by bit, and stir the soybean milk in the pot at the same time. When the soybean milk in the pot starts to slice, take a basket (a sieve-shaped round shallow bamboo basket, woven with thin bamboo strips, with many small grooves on it to help the bean curd shape and suppress excess water). I carefully pressed on the freshly flaky bean curd with one hand, and the strength was from light to heavy, without letting go of any area in the pot. The other hand kept scooping out the big "lake" formed on the tofu. When the excess water was almost scooped up, tofu sat on it, and soon tofu took shape. At this time, I scratched several times, and only the white fat man shook his head.
Next, the hot sauce used to dip tofu is the essence of the whole dish. Without it, tofu is soulless. Just like the pickle jar made by every household, the taste of Chili sauce in every household varies from person to person. I still remember watching grandma make Chili sauce in primary school, and I was very careful. Select the best dried peppers on the market, wipe them with a clean wet cloth, remove the stalks, leave pepper seeds, stir-fry them repeatedly in an iron pan, and evaporate the last moisture without putting a drop of oil. This process is called "Kang" (the fourth sound). At this time, the hot pepper out of the pot is particularly fragrant, and then it is crushed in a garlic mortar and mixed with dried hot pepper, Jiang Mo, raw garlic and garlic.
Although the tofu as the protagonist is still the pot of tofu, and the hot sauce as the dipping sauce is still the pot of hot sauce, the seasoning dishes in front of everyone can be changed according to personal preferences: Grandma's taste is heavy and spicy, and her hot sauce dishes will be mixed with pepper oil and a small amount of monosodium glutamate; My mother and I don't eat monosodium glutamate. We usually add a little soy sauce to the spicy sauce to add a little salty taste and reduce the spicy degree. My brother can't eat spicy food. The only dish he dipped in was soy sauce. Finally, take a handful of onion and cut it into very fine chopped green onion, sprinkle it on each dipping dish, and the dipping dish will be properly adjusted, which will naturally not disappoint the pot of extremely attractive tofu.
Traditional Sichuan women are hardworking and capable, and grandma is naturally a good cook for hot sauce. On the top floor of my refrigerator are all kinds of hot sauces, including dried peppers, fresh peppers, red peppers and green peppers. There are pepper segments, pepper rings and pepper powder in the shape. Paired with leeks, minced garlic and shredded ginger. In terms of taste, these large and small bottles and jars have their own flavors, and they are the best partners for mixing noodles, bibimbap and cooking. This is just Chili sauce, not to mention homemade tofu, sauerkraut, spicy lobster sauce, and grandma's pickle jar, pickles, radishes, beans, ginger, garlic ... but eat less pickled food. I have eaten all kinds of Chili sauce, and my mouth is awkward. No wonder my friends always laugh at me on weekdays and often judge a restaurant by whether the Chili sauce is delicious or not.
Tofu pudding is often left over, and smart grandma will always find ways not to waste it. Add chopped tomatoes, chopped green onion and bean curd, and stir-fry in a pan. Divide them into two parts with or without hot sauce, and it becomes the fastest dish on the table. The bean dregs left by filtration can't escape from grandma's palm. Without any seasoning, put it in a basin for compaction, cover it with a layer of plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. When they smell the fragrance, they can open it. This is a natural fermentation process. Remove the surrounding bean dregs, only take the middle part, stir-fry the excess water in the pot, add salt, oil, or fresh Chili or Chili sauce or Chili powder, mix well, and then steam on a plate. In addition, the yellow-green transparent tofu water left by tofu molding, called high (third sound) water, is edible and has obvious fragrance, which is a good product to relieve boredom after big fish and big meat. However, because it is rich in alkali, it is not suitable for drinking, so it is very suitable for cleaning oil stains on pots and pans. It is cleaner than detergent, has no chemical residue, and is green and environmentally friendly.
Hand-ground tofu brain tastes particularly delicious, but it is troublesome after all. Now my family should seal the stone mill with a sense of the times as early as possible, and use the machine instead of the stone mill to make soybean milk and tofu according to the above process, which saves time and effort, and the dishes made are as delicious.
Speaking of eating, Mr. Wang Zengqi is the pioneer of my writing about food. He, a writer who has eaten all kinds of delicious food, is not only good at eating, but also good at writing. Among Wang Lao's many works, I like to read his articles about food best, such as Wang Zengqi's Talking about Eating, Eating and Literature, Sifang Diet and Hometown Food.
The first time I saw Wang Lao's works was an essay "Duck Eggs at Dragon Boat Festival" I learned in junior high school. I can still remember that Gaoyou's salted duck eggs are soft, thin and oily, and red oil comes out as soon as chopsticks are tied.
Without excellent writing skills and super logical thinking, I can't control those long speeches, and my brain is not bright enough. I can only write short articles close to life in order to be comfortable.