CCTV News: Tofu is homophonic with "Doufu", which means that you can harvest more blessings in the new year. Today, we are going to meet two "blessing givers" and see how they use their housekeeping skills to make ordinary tofu into a variety of delicious dishes.
Chen Xingxing: The ingenuity and nostalgia in a piece of gray tofu
In the Buyi Township of Wudang District, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, Chen Xingxing is recording the latest short video to promote the production skills of intangible cultural heritage bean products at the municipal level through Buyi folk songs. Locally, tofu is prepared in a variety of ways: mashed, dough, fried, and with the addition of folded ear roots, the tofu balls are charred on the outside and tender on the inside. Thinly sliced, plated, and served with pork ears, the braised tofu platter is rich in flavor. In addition, there are dishes such as the three treasures of the farmer, the interlocking silk, and the fungus tofu. In 2023, Chen Xingxing, who graduated with a master's degree, did not take the exam for a decent job in the city as the villagers expected, but put on an apron and a bamboo basket, returned to his hometown surrounded by mountains, and started a gray tofu business.
As the saying goes, there are three hardships in life, supporting the boat and grinding tofu. Tofu is commonplace, but making it is a chore.
Chen Xingxing: If you get up at four or five o'clock to make it, then it will take four or five hours to make a pot. A pot of tofu is only forty pieces, and it is actually very hard for you to make so many catties of tofu after so many hours of labor.
The finely ground soy milk is filtered repeatedly and then boiled in a pot. The marinade does not use salt brine, but uses the sour soup common in Guizhou. The tofu is then wrapped in the ashes formed by the burning of buckwheat stalks and other plants, giving it a special flavor and a technique that has been passed down from the ancestors. Behind the delicacy, however, are a pair of rough, calloused hands.
Chen Xingxing: This heat and ash are particularly biting hands, so the condition of this hand is relatively bad. These cocoons have just been broken, and they have fallen off again.
Chen Xingxing's hard work, his parents saw it in their eyes and felt pain in their hearts.
Chen Xingxing's father: I thought to myself that (Chen Xingxing) should go find a good job, since I have read so many books. We have been pushing tofu for decades, and we know that making tofu is bitter.
Dai Wenmei, a villager from Bipo Buyi Township, Wudang District, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province: Some of us here don't seem to understand. I think, yo, you see spending so much money to go out and study.
The advice of his parents and the incomprehension of outsiders did not shake Chen Xingxing's determination. In her opinion, every brick, tile, grass and tree in her hometown carries her strong nostalgia.
Chen Xingxing: Through the production of short videos, I spread the skills of gray tofu making and some excellent traditional culture of the Buyi people.
Chen Xingxing has continued to improve his works, and has received more and more attention, and the sales of gray tofu have become more and more widespread. At the moment, Chen Xingxing is still busy with a big thing, and the tofu workshop designed by her herself is about to be put into production.
Chen Xingxing: This is the design of the gray tofu workshop that I drew myself. If we used to make tofu in the traditional way of making it at home, it might be one or two hundred catties a day at most, so after our improvement, we may be able to reach one or two thousand catties a day.
In addition to making tofu and recording videos, Chen Xingxing also enjoys the process of selling in the village. Today, she is friends with many of the villagers and the owner of the farmhouse.
Chen Xingxing: It is enough for people to do one thing well in their life, so I can make tofu well.
Luo Yunxin: Practice your own skills to stimulate spicy and fresh fragrance
When it comes to tofu feast, we have to mention the classic of Sichuan - mapo tofu. In Chengdu, Sichuan, the land of abundance, 29-year-old Luo Yunxin's stir-fried mapo tofu has conquered the taste buds of diners.
Mapo tofu is a common home-cooked dish in Sichuan and Chongqing, and almost every household can make it. However, it is really difficult to stimulate the eight characteristics of "spicy, crispy, fragrant, tender, and hot" at the same time. Cut the white and tender tofu into 1.5 cm square pieces, blanch them in water, add the fried seasonings, and finally thicken them and put them on a plate. Now Luo Yunxin's set of "kung fu" is smooth and can be completed in one go. However, when he first came into contact with the chef industry, he couldn't even cut chopped green onions, and the tofu was scattered as soon as he touched it.
Luo Yunxin: When I first started making mapo tofu, it was not good to thicken and hook, and sometimes I hooked it out, and the tofu did not condense, and a loose lump could not contain it. (Sometimes) if you use it hard, the tofu will be pushed badly, and you can't go back to the spoon when you push the tofu, you can only push it in one direction.
Mapo tofu should be hooked with three batches, the head is made to make the tofu flavorful, the second is to collect the juice and bright oil, and the third is finally fused. Just one step of thickening, Luo Yunxin has been practicing for almost a year. During this time, he constantly observed the craftsmanship of his predecessors and honed his skills.
Chef Hu Yuanwei: Sometimes we go to work (rest) at noon, and he does it in this place by himself, and he studies in this place.
Mapo tofu, hemp is in the head, and the flavor of hemp comes from Sichuan pepper. When Luo Yunxin was off duty, he often went to the market, looking, touching, smelling and tasting, and the good pepper flavor came immediately.
During the Chinese New Year, there were more diners who came to eat in the store, and Luo Yunxin's work was also busier, at most, he had to fry more than 500 plates of mapo tofu a day. But seeing the guests eating happily and receiving continuous praise, he was also happy from the bottom of his heart.
Luo Yunxin: The dishes I fried were all eaten by the guests, and I felt happy from the bottom of my heart.
(Source: CCTV)
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