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Chinese Name: 豆腐花
English Name: Doufuhua; Tofu flower
Category: Snack小吃
Main Ingredients: Soybean
Doufuhua豆腐花 is a snack made of soybean. In some areas, beans such as peas and broad beans are also used to make tofu flowers. Soak the soybeans with water, and grind and filter out the soymilk. If the soymilk is added with brine or gypsum, it will coagulate into a very soft solid, namely a tofu flower.
The flavor of the tofu flower is divided into two kinds, namely, the southern flavor and the northern flavor, that is, the southern sweet flavor and the northern salty flavor. This has always been a dispute over the differences between North and South tofu blossoms. For southerners, sprinkle a handful of sugar on it; The northerners add coriander and sauce to make a delicious snack. This is not controversial. It is mainly due to the life and cultural habits of the North and South.
To make tofu pudding, soybeans must be soaked for about 4 to 8 hours depending on the variety or personal preference. After the soybeans are saturated with water, they can be beaten, filtered, boiled, and then cooled to 90 ℃. The final step is called “flushing the bean curd”, which means that the soybean milk should be kept for 5 to 15 minutes after being flushed with the coagulant. The delicious techniques of tofu are the temperature control of the integration of soybean milk and coagulant, as well as the speed and skills of preparing tofu.
Tofu flowers and tofu have the same origin. There are many explanations for the origin of tofu. There are different views from ancient times. One view is that there was tofu in Confucius孔子‘s time, and another view is that tofu began in the Western Han Dynasty西汉 with the King of Huainan淮南王, Liu An刘安. The former has few supporters, while the latter has been circulating for a long time since the Song Dynasty宋朝.
Zhu Xi朱熹 of the Southern Song Dynasty南宋 wrote in his poem “Tofu”: “The bean sprouts are sparse, and the heart has rotted after exhaustion. He knew Huainan’s art early and got the spring cloth safely种豆豆苗稀，力竭心已腐，早知淮南术，安坐获泉布.” And self-noted that “the legendary tofu is the art of the king of Huainan”; Yang Wanli杨万里, a contemporary of Zhu Xi, wrote an article called “Biography of Doulu Zirou豆卢子柔传” with the subtitle “Tofu”, which also mentioned that there was tofu in the Han Dynasty.
Later, there were many people who held such a view. For example, Li Shizhen李时珍 also believed that “the method of tofu originated from Liu An, the King of Huainan in the Han Dynasty豆腐之法，始于汉淮南王刘安”, and that “tofu originated from the art of the King of Huainan in the Han Dynasty” in Cao Mu Zi草木子, Ye Ziqi叶子奇 of the Ming Dynasty明代, and that Wu Yuan物原, Luo Qi罗颀 of the Ming Dynasty, also said that “Liu An made tofu” was recorded in ancient books in the Western Han Dynasty.
It can be said that since the Song and Ming Dynasties, people have always believed that the invention of tofu began in the Western Han Dynasty. However, it is strange that the existing Han and Tang literature, whether it is Huainanzi淮南子, Qimin Yaoshu齐民要术, or even various literary works, does not have any record of tofu and tofu originated from Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, many scholars questioned the “theory of the beginning of the Han Dynasty” of tofu and put forward some different views. Earlier Japanese scholars, Tian Tong田统’s “theory of the beginning of the Tang Dynasty” and Yuan Hanqing袁翰青’s “theory of the beginning of the five dynasties”.
How to make Doufuhua?
Ingredients：
- Dry soybeans 200g
- Water 2200ml
- Glucose lactose 3g
Instruction:
- Step 1, Wash the dried soybean once with water and soak it overnight. Pick out the bad beans, and stir them three times with the food processor to make fine raw soybean milk. Then prepare a dense gauze, pour and lift the raw soybean milk, and squeeze out the soybean milk. Then remove the bean dregs, which can also be used for other foods.
- Step 2, Pour soymilk into the pot, skim off the foam with a net spoon, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly during cooking to avoid scorching the bottom. It should be noted that there will be many bubbles when the soybean milk is boiled, and the fire should be changed down in time to avoid overflow. Boil for another five minutes and then turn off the heat.
- Step 3, Prepare the internal fat, and soak 3 grams of internal fat in 2 spoons of cold boiled water. When the soybean milk in the pot cools to about 80 degrees, pour the fat water into the pot. While pouring, quickly stir in the same direction. Cover the pot and let it stand for 25 minutes.
