The vegetable tofu of the hometown
Author: Liu Quan
"The people take food as the sky", and eating is the most important thing for the people in the day. For thousands of years, in the daily production and labor, combined with the regional environment, people have continuously summarized and derived foods that are conducive to their own survival and continuation, and gradually formed food dishes with local characteristics and flavors. Therefore, "eating" is not only life, but also a culture, and is an important part of the traditional culture of the Chinese nation. It can be said that each place has its own characteristics and is known for its flavor food throughout the country. In my hometown of Yangxian, there is also a familiar flavor snack suitable for all ages---- vegetable tofu.
But everyone who has been to Yangxian knows that Yangxian people can eat a delicacy called vegetable tofu for three meals a day. It looks like porridge, but it is not porridge. At the top is a mixture of green vegetables and tofu, and at the bottom is a sticky rice porridge, which looks white and green, fragrant and pleasing to the eye. When eating, it is supplemented with seasonal side dishes with leeks, coriander, or shallots, etc., with sauce and oil. The color is complete, and it is immediately appetizing and addictive, and it is delicious in the mouth, not only the tenderness of tofu, but also the fragrance of green vegetables and rice.
My hometown of Yangxian, located in the Hanzhong Basin in the south of Shaanxi and north of the Qinling Mountains, is known as the "Small Jiangnan outside the Sai". It is a typical hilly area, sparsely populated and closed to traffic. Thousands of years of closure have made the people here loyal and honest, simple and hospitable. Whether it is relatives who come from afar or tourists who pass by to rest, they will make the most authentic dish tofu for you to taste. City people who have eaten chicken, duck and fish meat for a long time come to a bowl of vegetable tofu, and suddenly feel refreshed and relaxed.
The vegetable tofu in the hometown is a special food in southern Shaanxi and is a home-cooked meal on the table of the common people. The taste is light, suitable for all ages, delicious and nutritious, so it is also the "hospitality meal" of the hometown. In the past, there was a red and white happy event in the village, and most of the people in the village used rice and steamed buns as the main food after the banquet, but now with the improvement of people's living standards, vegetable tofu has become the new favorite after the banquet. Don't underestimate this bowl of vegetable tofu, easy to digest, but also oily. As we all know, the crude fiber of green vegetables is more; and the raw material of vegetable tofu - soybeans, known as the king of plants, protein and trace elements are particularly rich, the combination of the two, the nutritional structure has reached a balance, easy to make the human body absorb, but also easy to digest. Vegetable tofu also has a diuretic function, can effectively remove greasy filth in the stomach and intestines, often eat vegetable tofu has also been conducive to the health of the heart and blood vessels. For women who love beauty, vegetable tofu is the best diet food.
Regarding the origin of vegetable tofu, it is said that it is related to the Kangxi Emperor. One day, the Kangxi Emperor went to Yangxian County and saw that men, women, and children were eating a food like porridge. This porridge contains rice, vegetables, and tofu, which looks brightly colored and fragrant. When they arrived at the inn, the Kangxi Emperor asked Xiao Er what this was, and Xiao Er smiled and told him that this was "Flying Snow in Qingshan", and that the inn had a supply, and then presented a bowl. The Kangxi Emperor was accustomed to eating mountain treasures and seafood, and he had never seen such a delicacy, so he devoured it, praised it, and ate it. The Kangxi Emperor said: This meal, there are vegetables, as well as tofu, it is better to call it "vegetable tofu is good." As a result, the name of vegetable tofu spread among the common people. Later, he returned to the capital to order the imperial chef to cook tofu. The imperial chefs tried all kinds of ways, no matter how they did it, but they couldn't make the tender and delicious taste they had eaten in Yangxian County.
The method of vegetable tofu is not simple, the process is complicated, the time is long, and the firewood is wasted. Therefore, the people in the Hirakawa area do not eat it very often. Remember, when my mother-in-law was there, she loved to eat vegetables and tofu, and sometimes she would make it during the New Year's Festival. She does it, and I help her burn the fire. While burning the fire, watch. First, soak the soybeans with water one day in advance and spend the night. The next day, the soaked soybeans are beaten, filtered, and poured into a large pot to boil; then the chopped cabbage or spicy vegetables are put in, and slowly add gypsum or syrup soup to stir, while stirring while scraping off the floating white foam on the surface; soy milk will quickly form bean blossoms after encountering acid, and soon wrapped with vegetables to form large and small vegetable tofu blocks; at this time, add the rice, and the rice can also be added to the jade grits. Finally, fill the wood, support the lid, and in about an hour, a pot of delicious vegetables and tofu is ready. Freshly prepared vegetable tofu is dried and thin, and the layers are clear. It's like a "blue snow" scene. Nowadays, my mother has been dead for many years, and every time I make vegetable tofu with my mother at home, we will invariably mention my mother and mention the vegetable tofu she made. The Slovaks are gone, and the only way for the living to live is to remember the deceased.
Outside of Yangxian County, other areas in southern Shaanxi order tofu first and then put in vegetables, and do not put down rice. This method makes the dish tofu, vegetables back to the dish, tofu back to the tofu, you can also drink soup, the soup taste is sour and refreshing, the taste is light. This kind of vegetable tofu is the way people in areas outside Yangxian county eat, and the hometown people love to eat vegetables wrapped in tofu and have the taste of porridge. It's tender and refreshing to eat, and you can still eat enough.
Spicy side dishes when eating vegetable tofu can be seasonal fresh vegetables or dried vegetables. Generally, Yangxian people will use leeks, green onions, or coriander with ginger and garlic chopped, and then stir well with chili noodles and other condiments, and finally add piping hot oil. You can also add sesame oil, spicy oil and other condiments. Delicious vegetable tofu, coupled with delicious "vegetable spicy seeds", instantly arouse your appetite, eat several large bowls in one breath, and the stomach in the mouth is happy.
The vegetable tofu is complicated to make and more knowledgeable to eat. When eating, according to personal taste, you can eat thin or thick, and the spicy dishes can be put or not. People with too much stomach acid can put a little after the soy milk is boiled, and then mix it into it after the vegetable tofu is made, so that the vegetable tofu becomes sweet, and the special stomach is eaten; the vegetable tofu should be eaten while hot, and the warm eating will be bloated. There is a saying in Yangxian County: "Cold vegetables and tofu are not hot and not sharp", in fact, it can be heated. It can be heated directly, or it can be fried in oil with green onions, ginger, garlic seedlings and spices. This kind of stir-fried vegetable tofu looks ugly, and people who have not eaten it may not be accustomed to eating it, but people in their hometown eat it with relish.
The day of Yangxian people starts with eating vegetable tofu. Breakfast, people's standard is usually dough skin plus vegetable tofu, but the small restaurant sells vegetable tofu is relatively thin, mainly to drink soup. If the dough is the "soul" of Yangxian people, then vegetable tofu is the "companion" of Yangxian people. After a few days of not eating, I always feel that something is missing. The so-called "one side of the water and soil to nurture the other side", perhaps only Yangxian people born here and grew up here will have such a deep love and attachment to vegetable tofu.
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Like most people in my hometown, I never left Yang County from birth until I was 19 years old. It wasn't until the summer of 2008 that I went out of Yangxian for the first time to study, and I began to leave my hometown. In order to make a living, I have traveled to many places in the south and north, and every time I am in other towns, I will not hesitate to walk in when I see a sign selling vegetables and tofu. But eating it once disappointed, because these so-called vegetable tofu are actually a bowl of clear soup with a few pieces of tofu with vegetables floating in it. Far from what I am familiar with, the tofu in my hometown is wrapped in green vegetables and porridge.
Over the years, no matter how far I have gone, no matter how difficult life is, I always remember that I am a Yangxian person. As a Yangxian person, born here, grown up here, everything here is so familiar, so unforgettable, so unforgettable that I can't forget. Here are my relatives, here are my memories, and more importantly, my aftertaste of the dish tofu.
I have been working and living in Hanzhong for more than three years, and gradually I have become accustomed to tofu, no vegetables, and no porridge. But deep down, I still long to eat the pure hometown dish tofu. The vegetable tofu of my hometown will always be my constant concern.
All the roads people have traveled in this life are for their relatives, for themselves, and for the hometown that will never be forgotten. Everyone will eventually return to their hometown, back to the origin of life, back to the place where life began. The return of the leaves to the roots is the wish of most Chinese people, and it is also my ultimate long-cherished wish. Only by returning to your hometown and returning to your homeland can you comfort your wandering, lonely, and tired soul.
Author: Liu Quan, born in January 1989, a native of Guanxi Donglian Village, Hanzhongyang County, joined the work in August 2012, graduated from Northwest A&F University with a bachelor's degree in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine. He is a member of the Shaanxi Peasant Poetry Society and the Yangxian Writers Association, and currently lives in Hanzhong. Love literature and art, love life, like to read and write after work, often have written works seen on the Internet platform.