Author: Qing Si; Editor: Xu Wujie
In addition to pickling, mold is also a unique way of transforming food Chinese. It is through fermentation, the clever use of microorganisms to change the texture of food, so that it grows mold that is beneficial to the human body, which can achieve a long-term effect and create a flavor that is completely different from fresh products. The famous tofu milk, moldy dried vegetables, moldy thousand sheets are all products of the same process, compared with the moldy okara, although much less famous, but also has its own unique features.
Moldy
In the agricultural society, most of the rural families have their own small stone mills, and most of the tofu is done by themselves, and how to deal with the tasteless okara that is discard Chinese ed but unfortunately is a difficult problem to test the wisdom of the ancestors. In the countryside of Hunan, my ancestral hometown, people have an indescribable preference for moldy okara, and many Xiang people have moved to the city for many years and still have no forgotten love for this moldy food. In the past, every few years, my father would ask people to come to the tofu factory to ask for okara and make a moldy okara to relieve the hunger to comfort homesickness.
Moldy okara must be selected in winter and spring, if the temperature is too high, the degree of fermentation is difficult to grasp, okara is easy to stink, then it is not white mold that grows, but poisonous green mold. The preparation method is to put the okara in an iron pot and stir-fry, remove the excess water, squeeze the okara with both hands, knead it into a bunch of dumplings, put it in the lotus leaf, cover it with a quilt or old clothes while it is hot, and let it ferment. After a few days, the okara was covered with long white hyphae, and after a few days, when the mycelium was poured down, it could be taken out and cooked.
Moldy okara
For people who are addicted to this substance, mold bean residue has a special attraction, because after fermentation, it will emit a sour smell similar to cheese. But this is what the "stinky husbands" want. In addition, after the moldy okara is cooked, the breath will become much more restrained, and it will show different flavor types, and the taste is very unique. The most common is to cut thin slices, add garlic sprouts, parsley, dried peppers and stir-fry together, in the spice of the condiments, moldy okara is also stained into incense. Or steam sliced moldy okara and minced meat in a pot and pour chili oil on top. This dish, many first-time tasters will want to add a bowl of rice after carefully trying the first bite.
The moldy okara of the emblem dish
However, the best way to eat moldy okara is to use it to stew duck. The Xiang-style wax flavor is mostly smoked with wood smoke, and the taste is salty and the pyrotechnic gas is heavy. After a long time of wind waxing the duck, the meat has become extremely firm, it must first be chopped into small pieces, steamed into a pot to soften, and then stewed with moldy okara. The mission of moldy bean residue is to dissolve the saltiness and pyrotechnic gas of the wax duck, and to absorb the fresh aroma of the wax duck, the two are complementary and rely on each other, eating, flexible duck meat with salty and fresh moldy bean residue, quite innovative, although not fine food, but also intriguing. Especially in the cold and windy winter, it is especially pleasant to eat while stewing, and there is a kind of open local feeling.
There is a famous saying in Ang Lee's movie "Eating Men and Women": "People's hearts are thick, and it is not interesting to eat finely." "On the other hand, if people's hearts are at ease, moldy okara can also become a good life enjoyment."