Chapter 526 Grinding Tofu
"I've lost weight, but I look good. I should be pretty good."
After Xia Mingyue finished speaking, she exhaled and her heart returned to her stomach.
A person's mind and character are best shown on his face. This is the saying that appearance comes from the heart.
In the past, Hong Lian had a charming face, delicate and timid appearance, but now Hong Lian is much more generous and calm, and even has a bit more fierce aura between her eyebrows.
One can imagine how she faced life during this period and what kind of temperament she developed.
Today's red lotus is no longer a green potted plant that has just been moved from the greenhouse, but a red lotus that blooms wantonly and strives to grow in a cold lake.
Xia Mingyue was relieved and patted the back of Honglian's hand gently.
"My maid, everything is fine, Madam Xia, don't worry." Hong Lian suppressed the sobs in her heart and responded loudly, "My maid... My maid did not disappoint Madam Xia, Madam Xia."
"Yes, I'm not disappointed, and I'm very relieved." Xia Mingyue was filled with joy, "I heard from Zhuguo that you did an excellent job in the central kitchen, you were diligent, quick, and serious and responsible. I was very happy, but this Work is work, and you must take a break. Only by combining work and rest can you last long. ”
"Yes, my servant has taken note of it." Hong Lian nodded repeatedly.
After talking for a while, it was getting late, so Xia Mingyue returned to her residence first.
After arriving at her residence, Xia Mingyue began to select soybeans, choosing only those with full grains, no damage and mildew spots. After cleaning, she soaked them in water.
The weather is hot now, so you don’t need to soak them in water for too long. It only takes three or four hours. The soaked soybeans will expand in size, and the beans will look watery and beautiful.
Grind all these plump soybeans into soy milk with a stone mill, filter it with fine gauze, filter out the bean dregs, leaving only the extremely delicate soy milk and boil it completely in the pot.
Next, order the tofu.
There are many ways to order tofu, gypsum, brine, physalis...
Xia Mingyue used the more common brine. After adding the boiled soy milk, she stirred slowly and continuously to fully integrate the soy milk with the brine.
As the brine reacts with the soy milk, the originally viscous, white and tender soy milk gradually precipitates into a light blue-yellow slurry, while the white and tender soy milk gradually gathers to form clumps, like brain flower-shaped lumps.
This is tofu nao in the traditional sense.
Scoop out all the tofu brains that have completely formed into blocks and place them in a square, deep wooden box with a sparse cage cloth underneath. Tie the four corners of the cage cloth together so that there are no gaps. , then close the lid of the wooden box and squeeze out the slurry water present with the tofu curd.
This process is called pressing tofu.
However, the strength of both hands alone is not enough to press the tofu. Xia Mingyue placed stones on the lid of the wooden box, and pressed a wooden stick on the stones. One end was fixed on the ground, and the stone was used as a fulcrum in the middle to press hard. Put down the stick.
With a "swish" sound, the slurry splashed out almost instantly like river water, and then flowed slowly like a trickle.
The slurry is steaming, with a certain beany smell, but also has the unique fragrance of beans. Some people like this slurry and drink some specially. Some people think that this slurry is the most suitable for washing clothes. Connect a basin and prepare laundry and clothes.
When the flowing speed of the slurry water becomes ticking, and the tofu pieces in the cage cloth have a certain degree of hardness and elasticity when touched, the tofu is completely done.
After the soy milk has been completely boiled, the tofu is still steaming hot and cooked. After opening the cage cloth, use a long tofu knife to cut into a piece and eat it directly.
Whether you eat it directly or dip it in some freshly poured chili oil, the steaming tofu tastes the best with its slightly scalding texture.
Xia Mingyue took a bite and felt very satisfied, so she gave the tofu to everyone to have a taste.
"Hmm... delicious!" "So delicious!"
“I really didn’t expect that hot tofu would be so delicious.”
"Yes, when I bought tofu in the past, the tofu was basically cooled. When I ate it cold, I always felt that something was missing. Now I know that what is missing is the heat!"
"Thousands of tofu and thousands of fish, tofu must be eaten hot to be delicious!"
"When you say the word fish, it makes me think of eating crucian carp stewed with tofu..."
Yin Lingyou's words immediately resonated with everyone.
The fish meat is fresh and tender, and the tofu is also fresh and tender, and these two things have one thing in common, that is, they are light and delicious, but they can also be paired with any other ingredients. Not only will they not overwhelm the meal or mix the flavors, but they will complement each other and make the whole thing a success. The taste is even better.
"This is a good idea. Let's eat crucian carp stewed with tofu at night!"
Xia Mingyue's bold words immediately attracted unanimous applause from everyone.
Yinqiao and Zhuang's mother were already very efficient in getting live fish to slaughter and prepare ingredients.
Xia Mingyue took advantage of the gap before evening to send the freshly ground tofu to the government office and give it to Zhang Heming to have a taste.
When Xia Mingyue went out, Fan Jinglan took the initiative to accompany her.
The journey was not far, and the two of them walked on foot, chatting and laughing all the way. When they arrived at the door of the government office, they explained their purpose to the government official.
The Yamen official had already received Zhang Heming's instructions and knew the identities of Xia Mingyue and Fan Jinglan. He was extremely respectful and saluted, "Mrs. Xia, Mrs. Fan."
"It's really a coincidence. Your Excellency said in the afternoon that he was going to see the venue, but he hasn't come back yet. Maybe he got caught up in other things."
"That's really not a coincidence." Xia Mingyue felt a little regretful and handed the tofu to the Yamen, "I'd like to give it to Lord Zhang. I said these are newly made tofu. Please have a taste."
"Yes." The officer took it with both hands, "Ms. Xia, don't worry, I will hand the little one over to you, and inform you that Ms. Xia and Ms. Fan are here today."
"Thank you for your efforts."
Xia Mingyue and Fan Jinglan didn't stay long and walked back from the government office.
We were still talking and laughing while walking, and from time to time we would look at the stalls on both sides of the road and take a stroll.
Fan Jinglan suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Xia Mingyue also stopped.
"Nothing..." Fan Jinglan looked around, looked around carefully, and then exhaled.
She always felt as if someone was following them, but when she took a closer look, she didn't see any suspicious figures.
Maybe there were too many people in Changzhou Fucheng, so she thought too much.
Or maybe she came to Fucheng, and the second brother was very worried when he learned about it, and specially arranged for more secret guards to follow him, but he didn't want her to know, for fear that she would be unhappy because of it.
"I was just thinking about what should be used to accompany this tofu stewed crucian carp to make it delicious..."