Su Shi, a gourmet in the Song Dynasty, once tasted tofu.

Story

It is said that tofu was accidentally invented by Liu An, the king of Huainan, the grandson of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, when he was refining alchemy. He made tofu by dotting soybean juice with gypsum. This invention gradually spread during the Song and Ming Dynasties and became an integral part of Chinese food culture.

At the same time, potatoes, also known as potatoes, are native to Peru and Chile in South America and were not introduced to China until the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.

Su Shi was a literati with a deep love for food. He made outstanding contributions in food creation. His notes recorded many of the delicacies he invented, including Dongpo Tofu. However, in Su Shi's time, potatoes had not yet been introduced to China, so he had not tasted potatoes.

The origin of Su Shi and food

Su Shi (January 8, 1037 - August 24, 1101), also known as Zizhan and Hezhong, also known as Tieguan Taoist and Dongpo Layman, known as Su Dongpo, Su Xian and Po Xian in the world, is Han nationality, from Meishan, Meizhou (Meishan City, Sichuan Province), and his ancestral home is Luancheng, Hebei.

When Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou, in addition to "playing in Chibi", Su Shi also often visited Xishan across the river. One day, the monks of Lingquan Temple in Xishan made a special fried cake to entertain this famous scholar and invited him to eat it.

After Su Shi tasted it, he felt that the cake was crispy and fragrant, melted in the mouth, and had a long aftertaste. He praised it so much that he personally named the cake "Dongpo Cake" and it has been preserved to this day.

The steps for making tofu at home are as follows:

Material preparation: a large piece of tofu, appropriate amount of onion, ginger and garlic, appropriate amount of seasonings (soy sauce, salt, sugar, cooking wine, etc.), appropriate amount of coriander wait.

1. Cut the tofu into pieces of appropriate size and blanch it in boiling water to remove the fishy smell of the tofu.

2. Add an appropriate amount of oil to the cooking pot, heat it up, add onion, ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.

3. Put the blanched tofu into the pot and stir-fry gently evenly.

4. Add appropriate amount of seasonings, such as soy sauce, salt, sugar, cooking wine, etc., and adjust according to personal taste.

5. Add appropriate amount of water, cover the pot and cook over low heat.

6. Cook until the tofu is fragrant and the soup is thick.

7. Finally, you can add some vegetables or meat according to personal preference to increase the taste and nutrition.

8. Sprinkle some chopped green onion or coriander as decoration before serving.