Food bloggers made fortunes in ancient times

The firewood in the stove was crackling, the iron pot was boiling soy milk, and the rich soy aroma filled the kitchen.

Soon a thin layer of skin appeared on the surface of the soy milk. Song Yan picked up the skin from the middle, put it on a winnowing basket, and waited for it to dry before eating.

The food that is hung on bamboo poles to dry is called yuba.

There is also a kind of bean curd skin that is pressed and made in the same way as tofu. Song Yan also taught Aunt Pang and the others.

In fact, there are many soy products, such as fried tofu and tofu skewers, but because they consume too much oil, ordinary people can't afford them, so Song Yan didn't teach them.

If he could grow peppers in the future, he could make some spicy noodles himself. Just thinking about it makes him happy.

After all the bean curd skins were hung on the bamboo poles, Song Yan rubbed his sore shoulders and finally finished.

"After drying, bean curd sheets can be stored for a long time. When you want to eat them, just soak them in water until they are softened," said Song Yan.

The tofu has been placed in the wooden frame for pressing and will be ready to be removed from the mold after half an hour.

When I went out, I saw that the sun had already set, the tired birds were returning to their nests, and dusk was falling.

Song Yan sat in front of the door, drinking soy milk from a bowl.

There is no sugar in the soy milk. One sip of it gives you a full, rich soy flavor.

Song Yan pointed at the children playing and said, "Don't they drink soy milk?"

Auntie Pang said, "It's tasteless. Kids don't like to drink it."

"Auntie, you can add some pumpkin, oh, golden pumpkin, and cook them together. It will be sweet and the children will love to drink it." Song Yan gave a suggestion.

Aunt Fat was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something. She slapped her thigh and said, "Why haven't I thought of this before? Xiao Song, you know more."

In fact, it tastes better if you add some red dates and wolfberries together. Red dates and wolfberries are not expensive, but they are not cheap either. You definitely can't afford to eat them every day.

In ancient times when supplies were scarce, it was not easy for ordinary people to eat something sweet.

The sugar-making technology at that time was not mature, and it mainly used maltose. Cane sugar had also appeared, but it was relatively expensive, with one or two ounces of sugar costing more than ten cents.

Only during festivals would I be willing to buy some to sweeten my children.

Song Yan took a sip of soy milk and continued, "You can also grind millet and wild wheat (oats) into powder and cook soy milk together. It can be used as breakfast and is also good for the body."

Aunt Fat nodded as she listened, indicating that she had taken note of it all.

After the tofu was removed from the mold, Song Yan helped cut it into small, even pieces and placed them outside to dry.

After doing all this, Song Yan moved the jar from the corner and asked, "Aunt, do you have any more straw?"

"Yes, yes." Aunt Hua went to the woodshed and brought over a handful of straw.

Song Yan told them that after the tofu has dried, they should put it into the jar, with a layer of tofu and a layer of straw, and then seal the opening. It will ferment after seven days.

The straw contains Bacillus, which can cause tofu to grow and ferment, forming moldy tofu.

Song Yan: "If there is no straw, lotus leaves will do.

"It turns out to be that simple." Aunt Fatty said confidently, "Okay, I'll take note of it."

Song Yan reminded him again and again: "Only those with white and fluffy hair can be eaten. If they are black in color, they are moldy and should not be eaten."

Auntie Fat nudged Auntie Hua with her elbow and said, "Sister Hua, remember, if there are black hairs, it means it's moldy. Don't be greedy and eat it."

Aunt Hua spat at her: "Why are you just talking about me? You are greedy and often eat secretly."

"It's obviously you who eats more." Aunt Fat retorted.

Seeing that the two aunts were arguing and about to quarrel, Song Yan quickly said, "Wait until the moldy tofu is fermented, sprinkle some rice wine on it, then coat it with salt and pepper powder, and put it in the jar. It will be more fragrant after being marinated."

Auntie Pang pointed at the bean curd on the winnowing basket and said, "Xiao Song, how do you eat this bean curd?"

“You can eat it stir-fried, mixed, or made into soup.”

As he was talking, Song Yan started to feel hungry and wanted to eat some cold bean curd. He looked at the seasonings in the kitchen and found soy sauce but no vinegar.

But I found a few citrons with shriveled skin.

Citron is the ancient lemon. If there is no vinegar and you want to eat something sour, you can use citron instead.

He was eager to try and said, "How about I make a few dishes for the aunts to taste."

Crush the Sichuan peppercorns, sprinkle some sesame seeds, then pour a spoonful of hot oil on it. With a "sizzling" sound, the spicy aroma immediately fills your nose.

Mix it with salt, soy sauce and citron juice, and just smelling the sour and spicy flavor will make you salivate.

Heat the pan over high heat, add oil, stir-fry the tofu skin, and finally serve with an egg and tofu skin soup.

There was a burst of fragrance coming from the kitchen. A head popped out from the left wing and sniffed: "It smells so good. What is Aunt Hua cooking tonight?"

Another voice came from the house: "Tofu, I just saw them grinding beans."

The man sighed and said, "Tofu again."

"But it doesn't smell like tofu. Who of you can go and take a look?" someone suggested.

"I'm not going, I want you to go."

The people in the room were still arguing about who should go. Not long after, they heard Aunt Hua shouting at the top of her voice, "Dinner is ready, dinner is ready!"

Before he could finish his words, more than a dozen people rushed out of the side room, shouting "Ahhh!" and rushed into the kitchen one after another.

For a moment, Song Yan wondered if she had entered the Flower-Fruit Mountain by mistake.

A figure flashed before my eyes, and I saw a big bearded man standing in front of the stove: "Aunt Hua, what are you cooking tonight? It smells so good."

"Cold bean curd, stir-fried bean curd with garlic sprouts, stir-fried bean curd with black fungus, stir-fried bean curd with bacon, stewed bean curd with cabbage, and bean curd egg drop soup." Aunt Hua recited them all in one breath without taking a breath.

“Why are they all bean curd skins?”

"What is tofu skin?"

Auntie Fat put her hands on her hips and scolded, "Just eat what you want. Even so many dishes can't fill your mouths."

The one-eyed young man was quick to pick up a piece of cold bean curd with chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. The sour, fragrant, spicy and hot food filled his entire mouth. He was reluctant to swallow it and wanted to savor it in his mouth: "Mmm, it's delicious."

"Is this tofu skin? It tastes like beans."

“It’s much better than tofu.”

Auntie Pang was serving food to a few children and heard them say "delicious" on the left and "smells so good" on the right.

She said unhappily, half of the jar of oil was almost used up by Xiao Song, how could it not taste good?

You think the food she cooks is bad, right? Humph, just cook it yourself next time. I'm busy.

Master Chen also came over following the smell of the aroma. Unexpectedly, in just one hour, Song Yan had prepared a table full of dishes.

He was shocked: "Did you make this tofu skin?"

Song Yan: "Otherwise."

Master Chen stretched out his chopsticks and tasted each dish, nodding continuously as he tasted.

The appetizing and refreshing cold bean curd is the most popular. Everyone took chopsticks and ate it up in a short while. Even the plates were licked clean.

The fancy fried tofu skin was also very popular, and the last dish was the egg tofu skin soup. Everyone preferred the strong flavor, and were not so keen on the light soup.

Brother Ying drank a bowl of bean curd soup and sobered up completely. He patted Song Yan on the shoulder and treated him more warmly than his own brothers: "Xiao Song, stay here tonight, and let's have a long chat."

As night falls, clouds cover the stars and the moon, and darkness shrouds the earth.

Erlin groped in the dark and went to the yard to close the door.

Aunt Niu, who lived across the street, came out to close the door. She vaguely saw Erlin and asked, "Erlin, has Dashu come back?"

Erlin said, "Brother hasn't come back yet."

Aunt Niu gave them a few more reminders, telling them to make sure to close the doors and windows tightly. Now that the weather was getting warmer, no one could tell whether the wild animals on the mountain, which had been hungry for a whole winter, would run down the mountain.

Erya stood on tiptoe and looked outside, but she didn't see anyone. She bit her lip and said, "I knew he must be fooling around somewhere again."

"A-choo!" Song Yan felt her nose itchy and sneezed while covering her mouth with her sleeve.

He muttered, "I don't know who is talking about me."

Sleepiness came over him, he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep, and suddenly thunder sounded in his ears.

"Hulonglong~Hulonglong~"

Song Yan woke up instantly and opened her eyes in panic.

Was it thunder or an earthquake?

He grabbed the quilt and pricked up his ears to listen, but all he heard was thunderous snoring beside him.

After a long silence, Song Yan looked at the roof and sighed.

No wonder when Brother Ying said tonight that he wanted to sleep with him touching his feet, Master Chen gave him an inexplicable look.

Why didn’t Master Chen tell him that Brother Ying snores when he sleeps?