Editor-in-Charge: Old Money
After the winter of each year, squirrels begin to collect acorns, pine nuts and other nuts, store them, and prepare for wintering. At this time, the agricultural work was no longer so busy, and the people in the mountains also began to enter the winter hiding, and the various crops harvested were sorted and stored. The industrious hostess began to prepare some flavorful snacks that were easy to preserve for a long time to enrich her own table and satisfy the appetite of the family. Among the many flavor dishes, tempeh is definitely the favorite on the farmer's table, especially the tempeh stir-fried pork belly, which is a delicious meal that people of all ages are salivating.
I remember when I was a child, every time winter came, every household began to make tempeh. Soybeans are abundant in the mountains and are the most important raw material for making tempeh. First of all, select the soybeans, first use a bamboo sieve to sift through, and then carefully select the rotten, moldy soybeans and other impurities inside, wash and soak. Water should be added more, because after the soybeans swell, the volume will increase a lot, and it is necessary to ensure that after the increase, it will also be flooded.
Usually soaked in warm water for about one night, after the soybeans have been completely swollen, drain the soaked soybeans, put them in a pot, and add water. The water should flood the soybeans. Then bring to a boil over high heat. After about ten minutes of cooking, turn on low heat and continue cooking. Cook until the soy beans can be gently pinched and rotted as the best.
Pour the cooked soybeans out of the pot, put them in a bamboo dustpan or bamboo sieve, drain, spread out and let cool naturally.
When the temperature of the cooked soybeans drops to 30 or 40 degrees, they can be put into an enamel pot for fermentation. In the winter, the temperature is low, and the pots should be wrapped in cardboard boxes, which should be covered with dried corn leaves and placed next to the fire pit to maintain the temperature required for fermentation. The length of fermentation time is related to the temperature level, which takes about three or five days. When you open the lid, you can smell the unique aroma of tempeh, and when you touch it with your hand, you have a sticky feeling, even if it is fermented.
Tempeh generally has two kinds, one is thin tempeh, one is dried tempeh, hometown people are more accustomed to brewing dried tempeh, also known as blowing tempeh. In the process of waiting for fermentation, it is also necessary to prepare fried soybeans and rice (in the past, people often used to replace rice noodles with bun grain noodles, the taste is slightly rougher), beat the fried soybeans and rice into powder, and then mix the soybean flour and rice flour together, add enough salt, chopped dried peppers, ginger, peppercorns, star anise, yamana, grass fruit, cardamom and other spices, and then pour the fermented soybeans into it, and mix them evenly with long bamboo chopsticks. Place it in a large nest cover made of bamboo (the inside of the lid is prepared with clean newspaper to prevent the powder from falling), and placed in a ventilated room, naturally dry. In the process of drying, it is necessary to often stir with chopsticks to avoid forming a clump and mildew.
When the moisture is almost dry, it can be stored. Put the tempeh into a large ceramic jar or glass jar, cover it with a lid, like pickled sauerkraut, add the right amount of water to the mouth of the jar, continue to ferment, and leave the rest to time, just wait for the delicious.
At this time, the tempeh is already edible, but it needs another ingredient to better reflect the delicious taste of tempeh, which is the pork belly smoked in my hometown. Cut the cooked pork belly into thin slices, sauté the oil on high heat, and then pour in the tempeh, the amount can not be too much, to ensure that the tempeh can be completely fried in the oil is fully wrapped in the appropriate, quickly stir-fry, and then put in some green onions, you can get out of the pot. Because the tempeh itself adds enough condiments, there is basically no need to put salt, peppers and the like when stir-frying.
I remember when I was a child, every time every household fried tempeh, the fragrance made people can't help but keep sucking their noses. Every time you have to fry a large ear pot tempeh meat, eat endlessly packed up, the next time you cook rice, wait for the rice to be ready, steam the tempeh meat in the jar, as soon as the lid is lifted, the tempting aroma will go straight to the nose, so that every time you eat, you can't help but ask: "Steamed tempeh is not?" ”
Industrious mountain people, with their own diligence and hands, adjust life, the original poor and boring days have a taste, just like this tempeh fried pork belly, fragrant, hot and spicy.