In Jiangkou, dried tofu is the taste of nostalgia and the true color of life. A small, inconspicuous storefront, a lump of steaming tofu, cut into small pieces, placed on a bucket, dried and placed in a baking bucket, the salty aroma of dried tofu comes out of the stove and floats through the streets.
Soak the high-quality soybeans for 4-6 hours, grind the soybeans, mix them with boiling water to cook the filter residue, pour the appropriate amount of sour soup, pour the water on the bean box, season with salt brine, take out the dry water and slice it, and then dry it, wait for the golden brown on both sides, the middle is transparent, and the dried tofu in Jiangkou is made in this way. Chewing slowly, salty and refreshing, hard and tough, let many diners who come to Jiangkou never forget.
"Today is the weekend, we used the weekend time from Tongren to Jiangkou, suddenly wanted to eat dried tofu, this dried tofu feels particularly chewy, and the more you eat, the more you want to eat." Tourist Li Xin said.
In 1907, Jiangkou people Duan Tailu, Zhang Shengxing and Zhang Shengxian in Jiangkou Chengguan New Street to bake wine, processing tofu as a business, at the beginning, every day the leftover tofu roasted dry, to drink to drinking guests to drink, and later constantly improve the production process, processed into dried tofu for sale. After that, the local people followed suit, and large bamboo sticks were erected in front of each household, and pieces of dried yellow tofu were dried on them. For hundreds of years, dried tofu has been a hometown feature that the people of Jiangkou must send to visit their relatives and friends during the Spring Festival.
"I am from the countryside, grandparents are making dried tofu, all kinds of dried tofu they will do, we also eat dried tofu to grow up, they do we also have to help, so we will do it from childhood, every New Year's Festival, the custom on our side is to give gifts are tofu dried, from childhood we received the most gifts is dried tofu." Fan Zhiwei Li Hexian said.
In the early years, there were about 6 family workshops like Li Hexian engaged in the dried tofu making industry, many of which were fathers and sons, wives and husbands. Like many local specialties that people are accustomed to, Eguchi dried tofu, although it has some influence in the surrounding areas, has always been a small fight, and it is difficult to become a climate.
"Our Dried Tofu in Jiangkou is very delicious, and it is also the characteristic of our Jiangkou, in 2019, my dried tofu has already entered the supermarkets in Jiangkou, and I hope that our dried tofu will go to the whole province, and even to the whole country." Fan Zhiwei Wu Chuanying said.
In recent years, with the continuous increase of the protection of intangible cultural heritage in Jiangkou County, some traditional projects have been given policy guidance and financial support. In 2018, Li Hexian's Jiangkou Li's dried tofu was renamed Jiangkou Fanzhiwei Food Co., Ltd., using Fanzhiwei as a big signboard.
"I hope that all of our dried tofu merchants, everyone will unite and cooperate, uniformly formulate a Jiangkou dried tofu industry standard, grasp the quality, create a Jiangkou dried tofu business card, and through the joint efforts of all of us, let the Jiangkou dried tofu go louder and louder." Fan Zhiwei Wu Chuanying said.
Dried tofu not only has a unique taste, but also a unique hometown, childhood, relatives and friends, and even subtle or profound life events together. Not only the aroma of food, but also the sound, picture and even sadness and joy, evoking people's memories of the streets and alleys of Jiangkou.
"I am a native of Jiangkou, and I often come to his house to buy dried tofu, with moderate salt and a very good taste, which is suitable for the taste of the people in Jiangkou." Jiangkou resident Ren Ping said.
For Eguchi Yuko, who is far away from home, dried tofu is a childhood memory and the taste of hometown flowing in the blood. Li Hexian has been doing dried tofu for many years, and he knows the feelings of the wanderers in a foreign country for dried tofu, so he groped up to open a WeChat mall, while ensuring the quality of dried tofu, using high-tech means to vacuum package dried tofu, extending the shelf life, so that the children of Jiangkou who are far away in other towns can taste the taste of their hometown.
"We have a little more people working outside in Jiangkou, they also miss The dried tofu in Jiangkou is also very much, and then our family got a WeChat mall, called Fanjing Shanbao, which is convenient for them to buy on the Internet when they work outside, they are also quite happy to buy dried tofu online, and there are still many people who buy it." Fan Zhiwei Li Hexian said.
Step by step, we will promote industrial revitalization and help the masses increase their income steadily. In 2019, the total tourism revenue of Jiangkou County reached 1.5821 billion yuan. At the same time, the rapid development of the tourism integration industry has expanded the channels for the masses to increase employment and income, and the per capita disposable income of urban residents in the county reached 31887 yuan in the same year, and the per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 10061 yuan. With the construction of Jiangkou Dried Tofu Street, they expect that after the completion of the Dried Tofu Street, it will allow Jiangkou Dried Tofu to walk on the "fast lane" through the mountains and seas.
"At present, the departments of the Jiangkou County Government are very supportive of our traditional industry, especially the dried tofu street that is now being built, which is also the biggest driving force and publicity for our industry, so I believe that the development of dried tofu in Jiangkou will get better and better." Fan Zhiwei Wu Chuanying said.