Chapter 80: Tofu

Chapter 80 Tofu

 In addition to making tofu and bean dregs cakes, soybeans can also be used to squeeze oil, make soybean paste, soy sauce, and sprout bean sprouts. There are many things that can be done.

"Bean cake?" Luo Huiniang frowned when she heard it, as if she remembered something bad: "Is it the kind of cake made by crushing soybeans? The third grandma made it with some old people in her hometown. It was so unpalatable. , the astringency is very strong. Moreover, the steamed bean cakes are scattered and not lumpy, so it is better to boil the soybeans directly and eat them." Boil them softly and eat them while they are hot, but they still have the aroma of beans.

The original owner also has this episode in his memory. It was the third grandma and the others who thought that soybeans were always stewed and eaten as too monotonous, so they thought of grinding the soybeans like sorghum noodles and white noodles, and then adding water to make bean cakes, but they didn't make it. .

The reason they didn't make it was because they didn't soak the beans and didn't add flour to the soybean powder, so the soybean powder couldn't stick together.

 The reason why they did not soak the beans and add flour is because in their understanding, the water will destroy the beans, and white flour is a precious food. They only eat it during the New Year, so naturally they are not willing to add the crushed soybeans.

Gu Jinli looked at Luo Huiniang's bitter face. She was so unhappy that she didn't even wash the millstone. She hurriedly smiled and said: "Don't worry, the bean cakes I make will definitely be different from those made by the third grandma. This is an old lady on the road to escape." I was taught that many people there eat bean cake as their staple food, it’s so fragrant and delicious.”

"Really?" Luo Huiniang's eyes lit up: "Then let's quickly wash the millstone and make delicious food." She happily washed the millstone with her.

The Tian family and the Luo family lived in the same courtyard. Tian Erqiang and Tian Xiaohua saw them washing the millstones and came to help.

Tian Erqiang went to fetch water, and Tian Xiaohua took a straw brush and washed it with them.

The millstone was one meter in size. It had been abandoned for a long time and was covered with dust and mud. They washed it five times before it was clean.

Luo Huiniang was almost exhausted and panting next to the millstone. After resting for a while, she had the strength to ask Gu Jinli: "Xiaoyu, can you make tofu next?"

He added: "The name doesn't sound too good, tofu, tofu, it sounds like rotten beans."

 Tian Xiaohua didn’t quite understand what tofu was, but she knew that following Sister Xiaoyu, she would have meat to eat and money to make, so she didn’t ask any more questions and just immersed herself in her work.

Gu Jinli said: "That's enough, the beans have been soaked for enough time."

"Pao, soak the beans!" Luo Huiniang shouted: "Did you soak the beans in water? Oh, you're done. Run away. If your parents find out, they will definitely beat you."

Beans are the food they eat to keep them hungry. If the little fish wastes food like this, even if Uncle Dashan and Aunt Dashan are good-tempered, they can't help but beat her.

Luo Huiniang wanted to pull Gu Jinli away, but Gu Jinli grabbed the wooden handle of the millstone and said, "I told my third grandma and my mother, and they gave me five kilograms of beans."

Grandma Third and Ms. Cui both felt sorry for their child. Although they felt sorry for the beans, they still gave her five kilograms of soybeans. They just agreed that if they didn't succeed, they wouldn't be allowed to try again in the future.

Luo Huiniang opened her mouth wide: "Third Grandma and Aunt Dashan are so kind to you." Five pounds of beans, if she dared to waste food like this, her mother would chase her with a broom and beat her.

The two of them and Tian Xiaohua ran to Gu Jinli's house together and went to the kitchen to get the soaked soybeans.

 Not long after, they returned to the yard of the Luotian family with the soaked soybeans and an empty barrel and began to grind the beans.

Gu Jinli rolled up his sleeves and said, "Xiaohua, you use a wooden bowl to scoop the beans into the hole of the millstone. Just put a little at a time. Huiniang and I will grind the beans."

This millstone is one meter in size, with two large stone mills stacked on top of each other. It is very heavy. It is difficult for her to push it alone, so she has to push it with two people.

“Hey, I got it, Sister Xiaoyu.” Tian Xiaohua scooped up the bulging soybeans in a wooden bowl and put them into the hole on the millstone.

Gu Jinli and Luo Huiniang grabbed the wooden handle driven into the millstone with both hands and pushed the millstone clockwise. After pushing for a while, white slurry flowed out from the gap between the two grinding stones and flowed into the stone groove at the bottom of the millstone. Gu Jinli called Tian Xiaohua: "Xiaohua, put the beans."

Tian Xiaohua put soybeans into the holes of the millstone. Gu Jinli and Luo Huiniang would push it five or six times, and Gu Jinli would ask Tian Xiaohua to add soybeans, grinding the beans over and over again.

Luo Wu and Gu Jinan came back from collecting firewood and came to help. They took turns grinding the beans. After a full hour, they finally ground the beans and produced a full bucket of soy milk and bean dregs.

Mrs. Chen heard that they were grinding beans to make Lao Shizi tofu, so she ran over to watch the fun with a bowl in hand. When she saw the bucket of soy milk, she said: "What a sin, good food is wasted like this."

He said to Gu Jinli sincerely: "Xiaoyu, you can't be so willful. If you waste food like this, you won't be able to find your husband's family in the future."

When Mrs. Chu heard this, she choked Mrs. Chen: "Brother and sister-in-law, are you allowed to say this to your little girl who has not yet left the court? If you don't think Xiaoyu and the others can make tofu, don't come here to see them. Wait. If the little fish really makes tofu, don’t eat it.”

 What a joke, how could Chen not take advantage of such an advantage?

Mrs. Chen quickly changed her words: "Sister-in-law Luo, look at what you said, what is the relationship between our family? Xiaoyu is a filial man. He makes fresh food, but he has to give a few kilograms to our family."

Gu Jinli chuckled: "I won't send away anyone who speaks ill of me."

After saying that, he and Luo Huiniang returned to her house carrying the bucket of soy milk and bean dregs mixture.

Mrs. Chen was afraid that Gu Jinli really wouldn't give her tofu, so she hurriedly said to Gu Jinli's back: "Xiaoyu, my aunt will go to your house to get the tofu later. You don't need to go to the trouble of bringing it to my aunt."

Gu Jinli pretended not to hear, and when they returned home, Gu Dashan and the others also came back carrying the water vat. Two people carried each of the five large water tanks. They walked for two hours, but they were very tired.

Gu Jinan saw Gu Dashan and Third Grandpa coming back with water tanks, and hurriedly brought them water and sweet potatoes to eat, letting them take a rest, eat something, and drink water.

Grandpa San and Gu Dashan drank a bowl of water and finally felt better.

Gu Dashan still remembered what he promised Gu Jinli last night. When he saw them carrying soy milk to the kitchen, he said to the kitchen: "Xiaoyu, dad will make a wooden box for you in a minute."

 Gu Jinli poked his head out of the kitchen and said, "Dad, don't worry, please take a break first. Our soy milk still needs to be filtered and cooked, and we have to be busy for half an hour."

After finishing speaking, she ran to ask the third grandma for a piece of one-meter-sized burlap, folded the burlap into two layers, and began to filter the soy milk. It took four times to filter the soy milk.

 She poured the soy milk into a large iron pot and boiled it, put the bean dregs into a clay pot, and saved it for making bean dregs cakes.

Tian Xiaohua’s family had a lot to do. After helping grind the beans, she went to do other chores. Only Luo Huiniang came to help light the fire.

“Xiaoyu, how long does it take to cook this?” Luo Huiniang looked at the soy milk in the pot and asked, “Can it be turned into tofu when it is cooked?”

Gu Jinli replied to her: "You need to boil the soy milk completely, skim off the foam, and then stew it. After making the tofu curd, put it in a wooden box to squeeze out the water. After it is formed, it is the tofu."

 (End of this chapter)