Village people, especially middle-aged and elderly people who are idle at home, like to go to the mountains to find good things. In the fall, we go looking for wild fruits, in the winter, we dig for young bamboo shoots, and in the spring, we pick wild vegetables. It is early summer, and it is a good time to pick firewood leaves and roots to make firewood leaf tofu and wild rice noodles.

My mother is also someone who can’t sit still. While Hao Hao and his friends are playing in the sand in the yard, she secretly rides an electric bike to the low mountain next to her family plot to look for good things. (If grandma is seen riding an electric scooter, she will definitely want to play with her).

Based on the memories in her mind, her mother looked for them in the low mountains based on the appearance of the plants she had seen at Grandpa Gu’s house. If a flower-blind me like me were to look for an unfamiliar plant, I might not be able to find it even if I try too hard to see. My mother quickly found and identified this plant with lush leaves - bougainvillea (this is the name of the flower I found out later using the flower recognition app on my mobile phone).

Bougainvillea is actually a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. Its flowers can be used as medicine to treat some gynecological diseases. The efficacy of its leaves is unknown, but I don’t know which villager said it can be used for Make Chaiye Tofu. In addition, sister-in-law Axiao from next door saw the method of making Chai Ye Tofu from a short Douyin video, which further strengthened the villagers’ confidence in going to the mountains to pick bougainvillea leaves and making delicious food.

My mother thought it was too troublesome to pick bougainvillea leaves outside. Picking them like picking tea leaves was really time-consuming, so my mother directly cut off many bougainvillea leaves and stems from the roots, packed them into bundles, and quickly Just transport the raw materials for making delicious food back home.

After returning home, my mother picked off the leaves one by one, washed them with water, and then invited Sister-in-law Axiao’s mother-in-law, Grandma Gu, as a consultant to start making Chaiye Tofu for the first time.

My mother has made authentic tofu before, so it is easy to complete the making of Chaiye tofu just by following the step by step. Even though it is the first time to make it, it is done well.

It’s just that this interesting tofu has an interesting soul. Its color is green, which is different from the gray of Zhizi tofu, but it looks very beautiful. When you poke it with your finger, it feels soft, cool, and elastic, much like fruit jelly. Take a bite with a spoon and taste it. There is a slight bitter taste in the mouth, but it is quickly covered up by the sweetness of the brown sugar added later. Then it feels cool and silky, and you can swallow it directly into your belly without biting your teeth.

Hao Hao, who loves fruit jelly, also thought this chaiye tofu was delicious. He ate two bowls of it until his belly was full.

My mother made more than ten kilograms of Chaiye tofu in one afternoon. Her family could not eat much, so she shared these delicacies with others so that everyone could try this new delicacy.