If you come to my hometown Youyang, Chongqing, you must remember to eat a bowl of rice tofu!
I remember it was 1987, when the movie "Furong Town" directed by the famous director Xie Jin became popular all over the country. At that time, as a young person, I seemed to appreciate the stories in the movie about the joys and sorrows experienced by Hu Yuyin, Qin Shutian and other low-level figures in the political movement during the political movement. However, the scene of the heroine Hu Yuyin selling rice tofu is in my mind and my heart. Because Furong Town in western Hunan in the movie is not far from my hometown Youyang. I live by the Youshui River and have similar local customs and food customs. Youyang also has rice tofu! ?
? In my childhood memories, every time when the corn (literally called corn) enters the flowering stage and completes the grain filling, the villagers who are short of food will eagerly break off some thick and strong grains. Use the bract sticks, peel off the bright yellow husk, dig out the plump and round tender bract seeds, and then grind the tender bract seeds into a fine pulp. When the corn slurry is poured into the pot and simmered until it is about seven or eight times mature, add an appropriate amount of quicklime water and mix evenly. Boil for another three to five minutes, then put it into a container and wait for it to slowly cool down naturally. The initial processing of Baogu tofu is done! In my hometown, almost every household makes Baogu tofu because the production process is not complicated. Later, when the villagers had surplus grain at home, they added soaked broken rice or aged rice to the young bract seeds when grinding. Later, the amount of rice became more and more, and even far exceeded the amount of young bract seeds, and the light yellow bract tofu was upgraded to the gelatinous rice tofu. So, I guess, rice tofu should have "evolved" from Baogu tofu, right?
? Rice tofu can be eaten hot. Just cut it into small cubes, blanch it in boiling water for a few dozen seconds to reduce the light lime water smell, take it out and pour it with soup or Just use meat sauce, just like the rice tofu sold by the heroine Hu Yuyin in "Furong Town". Although villagers often regard rice tofu as the staple food of the whole family, they try to eat it only when the farm is closed, because eating rice tofu cannot tolerate hunger and cannot fully guarantee the energy needed to complete heavy farm work.
? More often, people like to eat cold rice tofu. First cut the rice tofu into small pieces and put it in cold water. When it is time to eat, take it out and put it into a bowl. Then pour the different flavored condiments on the rice tofu. Needless to say, the taste of cold rice tofu must depend on the quality of the seasonings in the bowl. People in my hometown always seem to have a special liking for sour, numbing, spicy and other flavors! Therefore, their rice tofu seasonings must include the most basic condiments such as spicy millet or spicy oil, salt or light soy sauce, balsamic vinegar or sour pickles. They will also add chopped millet, spicy sea pepper, kohlrabi, crispy soybeans or peanuts, chopped green onions, pepper oil, garlic sauce and other ingredients, all depending on their dietary preferences and family conditions. The spicy and fragrant cold rice tofu tastes smooth, tender, spicy, sour and cool, appetizing and relieving the heat.
? If people are allowed to eat the same food for a long time, even if it is delicacies, everyone will get tired of it and feel disgusted. The villagers ate rice tofu in different ways, so they had "cold shrimp". Don’t get me wrong, this “shrimp” is not that shrimp! In the final step of making rice tofu, people scoop out the cooked rice tofu paste from the pot and pour it into a coarse-mesh sieve or a large colander while it is still hot. After passing through the round holes of a sieve or colander, the tofu paste turns into streamlined particles and falls into cold water to cool and form, resembling shrimps or tadpoles swimming at the bottom of a clear river. Although there is only a slight change in shape, the "cold shrimp" is particularly popular! If you are obsessed with the spicy and delicious taste, add a spoonful of spicy and sour spicy oil to the cold shrimp; if you prefer sweets, add a spoonful of brown sugar water or honey!
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After cooking, a bowl of rice tofu can be a staple food on the table or a snack during leisure time. A bowl of rice tofu can be both spicy, salty and sour, and also sweet and refreshing.
The soil and water support the people. I often wonder, is it the rough and bold but simple enthusiasm of the people in my hometown that gives rice tofu its delicious characteristics? Or does the spicy, salty, sour or sweet and refreshing rice tofu reflect the innate nature of the people in your hometown?
Mid-May 2019