Its "odor" is the natural fermentation of microorganisms, which has two aspects. First of all, at a suitable temperature, microorganisms in tofu naturally reproduce and ferment; The other is that microorganisms in salt water decompose plant protein into small molecular amino acids and protein, which will change color and stink after long-term pickling and fermentation.
There are generally three steps in making stinky tofu: dehydration, natural fermentation and salting. After the pickled stinky tofu is fried or fried, the skin is crisp but not burnt, the inner layer is tender and smelly, and the taste is delicious. If dipped in a special sauce, it will have a special taste. With the help of today's topic, I would like to share with you how to make stinky tofu.
-Stinky tofu-3 pieces of old tofu (about1000g).
Ingredients: 600g of douchi, 20g of edible alkali powder, 4g of soap alum, 800g of fresh bamboo shoots, 50g of salt/kloc-0, and 30g of wine.
-Start making-
(1) tofu dehydration.
● Cut the bought old tofu into 5cm cubes, wrap it in gauze and seal it, then lay it flat on the chopping board, add a chopping board on it, and finally press a stone on it (note: the stone should not be too heavy, otherwise it will crush the tofu).
● After a night of heavy pressure, let the water in the tofu slowly press out, and the tofu will become tight, like dried tofu.
(2) natural fermentation of tofu
● Prepare some dried straw, put the pressed tofu evenly on the dried straw, and cover it with a layer of straw (it can be repeated many times if there are many tofu).
● Put the paved tofu in a warm and ventilated place for about a week, and you can see that white hairs grow on the surface of tofu (this is the mycelium naturally fermented by microorganisms. Note: If the mycelium is black or green, it means it has broken).
③ making brine.
● Add water (about 3000g) to the pot, and let it cool after the fire boils.
Prepare a clean jar (be careful not to have raw water, oil stains, and dry it for disinfection), pour it into cold boiled water, add the prepared ingredients, such as douchi, edible alkali powder, soap alum, fresh bamboo shoots, salt and wine, stir it evenly with a clean vessel, seal it in a warm and ventilated place, and stir it once a day to let it ferment naturally for about 10 day.
④ Making stinky tofu
Put the fermented tofu into salt water and stir it evenly, seal it and put it in a warm and ventilated place. If the temperature is high in summer, it can be marinated for 6 hours (of course, the longer the time, the easier the tofu is to taste and the better the taste). When you want to eat, it is good to take out some fried or fried.
-"Questions and Answers in Content Production"-(1) Why did you choose old tofu to make stinky tofu?
Old tofu has several obvious characteristics; Good toughness, hard texture and fluffy (with holes)
First of all, you need to remove some raw water before making stinky tofu. Tofu is tough and hard, so long as the strength is mastered after heavy pressure, it will not be broken, ensuring the integrity of tofu. However, tender tofu becomes fragile after heavy pressure.
Secondly, the old tofu with good toughness and hard texture is easier to get out of the water after heavy pressure and has less water content. With less raw water, tofu is not easy to deteriorate during fermentation. Tofu fermented with raw water is too sticky and easy to "mold" and produce black spots.
Moreover, the old tofu is fluffy and made into dried tofu, which is easy to absorb the marinade when pickled. With the marinade penetrating into the dried bean curd, microorganisms can enter the dried bean curd well, and the fermentation effect will be better.
(2) Why should stinky tofu ferment naturally before curing?
Tofu is best fermented in advance, which is easier to be absorbed.
First of all, the main ingredient of fresh tofu is macromolecular protein. Only when it is fully decomposed into small amino acids and protein can it be fully absorbed by the human body and its nutrition will be comprehensive. The process of fermentation is the process of decomposing protein.
Secondly, early fermentation can provide opportunities for the reproduction and growth of microorganisms. A large number of microorganisms multiply, which can decompose plant protein more fully. When the stinky tofu is pickled in the later stage, the fermentation is more complete, which can shorten the time of pickling stinky tofu.
(3) What is the function of adding soapy alum and alkali powder to brine?
The component of alkaline powder is sodium carbonate, which is an alkaline substance. We often use it when we make spaghetti. As a leavening agent, it can make dough foam and expand, and the same is true here. It can make dried tofu foam and absorb marinade during fermentation.
Soap alum is rare. In fact, it is a kind of "odor agent", which will be used when making stinky tofu, mainly to increase the odor of tofu, and also to make the skin of tofu black, black and smelly.
-stinky tofu making. "
(1) To make stinky tofu, you must choose old tofu with high fermentation quality. For beginners, it is more suitable to make stinky tofu.
(2) Use raw water as little as possible when preserving any ingredients, so tofu should be preserved in raw water, and the water used for pickling is also "dead water" to be cooked, mainly to remove impurities and microorganisms in raw water and improve the quality of pickled products.
(3) To make stinky tofu taste better, the curing time must be long.