"Chapter 83: Dried Tofu with Soy Sauce"

"Receiving a bamboo tube of sugar water from Shen An and Shen Ning, Shen Jin felt as if he'd been extended an olive branch by his siblings. Having not gone to Shen An's place for many days, receiving this bamboo tube was like a liberation. In the afternoon, he left Shen Tie at home to look after Shen Tian and took Shen Yin to cut two more bundles of hemp, then happily carried them up the mountain."

"Of course, he brought along the cleaned bamboo tube as well."

"Not finding Shen An, only seeing Shen Ning sitting outside peeling hemp, Shen Jin felt somewhat awkward. He asked her about Shen An's whereabouts."

"Naturally, he wasn't there."

"'He went into the mountains with my sister-in-law.'"

"As for what they were doing in the mountains, Shen Jin didn’t dare to ask, knowing Shen Ning would retort, 'We don’t have our own land, what else but going to the mountains to earn our living?'"

"He would surely face rejection, so he didn't ask."

"Returning the bamboo tube to Shen Ning without the courage to say 'thank you,' Shen Jin just set down the hemp and sat down on the stone-covered ground, starting to peel hemp."

"Of course, there were more children helping with the hemp in the afternoon than just Shen Jin and Shen Yin. The group that had enjoyed sugar water in the morning had all arrived. By the time Sang Luo and Shen An returned with two baskets of konjac, the children had already partially sealed the other side of the stone-constructed spring pool, ensuring the soaked hemp wouldn’t be washed away."

"There was no shortage of hemp peeling knives either, as the adults, aware of the children's reward of a large bowl of sugar water, allowed them to bring the family's hemp knives."

"After soaking the hemp for an hour or two in flowing water, by the time Sang Luo and Shen An made their second return, the younger children were still peeling, while the older ones were already scraping the hemp on the ground with deft movements."

"The scraped hemp needed to be dried. Sang Luo contemplated whether to clear the clothes drying on the hemp ropes between the trees in the courtyard, but Er Niu cheerfully said, 'Sister-in-law, don’t bother. My aunt, Lu's grandma, and Chen's grandma already said we could use their bamboo poles. They will lend them to you for drying hemp; just set them up along the courtyard wall.'"

"This saved Sang Luo a lot of trouble, and she smiled, 'That would be great, please thank your aunt for me.'"

"Er Niu's aunt, Shi Erlang’s wife, felt a deep connection with Sang Luo since they foraged mushrooms together. She often looked after Sang Luo, sending over vegetables regularly. Of course, things like tofu residue, which used to be exclusive to the Chen family, were now also shared with the Shi and Lu families."

"Er Niu scratched his head at Sang Luo’s words, smilingly acknowledged, and then buried his head in his work again."

"Sang Luo couldn't attend to them, as she had to seize every opportunity to gather and process as much konjac as possible. Digging konjac twice a day, picking sour dates, and processing everything left her schedule very busy."

……

"Chen Youtian didn’t rest at noon and had Chen Ershan deliver ten of the fifteen boards needed for pressing dried tofu by mid-afternoon. He didn’t know what Sang Luo needed them for, but since she had asked him to prioritize them, he delivered what he had finished early so she could start using them."

"Returning from the mountains, Sang Luo was delighted to see the ten boards delivered. In a rare move, she soaked beans early in the afternoon and, with Shen An, brought back several stones about the same size as the boards."

"She sent Shen An to borrow a curved knife and scissors from the Chen family, then moved some leftover bamboo from their drying rack construction into the yard. There, she split them into a pile of finger-thick bamboo strips as long as the stove, carefully smoothing off any splinters and washing them for later use."

"After completing this, she closed the door and retrieved the clean, sun-dried filtering cloth she had stored away after stopping the production of magical tofu. She cut them into neat squares, slightly larger than a palm."

"Even after cutting up an entire cloth, she didn’t have enough, so she found unused new cloth and continued cutting until she had over a hundred pieces."

"Shen Ning watched her snip away, turning several large pieces of cloth into scraps, her heart aching at the sight."

"Sang Luo smiled, 'They’re for an important use; you’ll see tonight.'"

"Undeniably, her meticulous preparations piqued Shen An and Shen Ning’s curiosity to the fullest."

"After making sour jujube cakes and vegetarian tripe for the next day’s delivery to Dong Fu Lou and waiting for them to set, Sang Luo checked the beans’ soaking progress in the evening. Seeing they were ready, she began grinding them."

"Shen An and Shen Ning knew their sister-in-law was preparing a new dish today and were quite excited, assisting her through each step of the process, somewhat puzzled."

"‘Sister-in-law, isn’t this just tofu?’"

"Sang Luo smiled."

"It wasn’t until the coagulating step that Sang Luo took a small piece of the gypsum bought that day, breaking it into tiny pieces before grinding it into a fine powder. Shen An and Shen Ning's eyes widened, 'Sister-in-law, are you using something different to make tofu?'"

"The siblings didn’t recognize gypsum, but having seen Sang Luo always use plaster of Paris, they could tell the difference."

"‘Yes, this is called gypsum. Using this for coagulating gives the tofu a different texture and it can be called firm tofu. However, we have only a few tofu molds and need to produce a set quantity of soft tofu tomorrow morning. So tonight, we won’t make firm tofu but dried tofu marinated in soy sauce instead.’"

"Certainly, tofu made with plaster of Paris could also be used for dried tofu, but there would be some difference in texture. Sang Luo intended to make firm tofu, hence she had purchased the gypsum."

"Shen An and Shen Ning eagerly watched, curious about this new dish called 'soy sauce marinated dried tofu.'"

"Up to the point of coagulating, the process was no different from making tofu, except for the coagulant. Instead of pressing the coagulated tofu curds into molds lined with cheesecloth, they just used the molds as temporary strainers."

"The cheesecloth cut earlier was now put to use. The two helpers, with washed hands, followed Sang Luo's lead, scooping the curdled tofu into the cloth, forming them into tightly packed small square blocks."

"The new boards now came into play, as they arranged the neatly packed blocks on them. By the end, two large boards were filled, each holding sixty-four blocks, totaling one hundred twenty-eight blocks."

"Then, under the puzzled gazes of Shen An and Shen Ning, Sang Luo stacked several wooden boards on top of the two boards already laden with tofu, adding four in total, before placing cleaned stone slabs on top."

"The 'stone slabs' were actually large, relatively uniform rocks resembling boards, ensuring an even distribution of pressure."

"She also placed several empty buckets and pots at the corners beneath the bottom board to catch the dripping water and prevent it from falling onto the ground, as water on dirt is not a pleasant mess."

"Once everything was set, Sang Luo smiled, 'All done, now we wait for about forty-five minutes.'"

"Although she said forty-five minutes, there was no precise timer; it was all judged by experience."

"Shen An and Shen Ning squatted nearby, watching as the cheesecloth-wrapped tofu squares were steadily squeezed of soy juice, dripping steadily onto the wooden boards and then into the empty buckets."

"Shen Ning, ever mindful in household matters, had observed the tofu-making process and asked if the extracted soy juice was drinkable, like soy milk. After all, everything had been boiled, including the tofu curds, but Sang Luo had advised against it."

"It's not tasty and could contain residual plaster, making it inadvisable to drink."

"Eventually, this liquid was simply discarded. Initially, Shen Ning was concerned about chickens and ducks drinking it, but after consulting Sang Luo, she was reassured it was harmless."

"As the cloth-wrapped blocks grew thinner and the time seemed right, the siblings called Sang Luo over to check."

"Feeling the time was about right, Sang Luo removed the layered stones and wooden boards, and then the wrapping cloth, revealing to the amazed siblings something entirely different in texture from tofu."

"'So, this is soy sauce marinated dried tofu?'"

"‘Is this tasty?’"

"Sang Luo smiled, ‘This is plain dried tofu, not yet marinated in soy sauce.’"

"Handing the task of removing the cloths to Shen Ning, Sang Luo called Shen An to help light the fire and began preparing the marinade with the ingredients she had bought in town that day."

"Shen An, having tasted marinated meat before, knew how fragrant it was and lit up at the thought: ‘Sister-in-law, will this dried tofu have the same flavor as marinated meat?’"

"‘It will have a similar fragrance, but it won’t taste the same.’"

"After all, meat is meat, and marinated dried tofu can't truly replace it."

"‘But it’s still very delicious.’"

"As night fell, a tantalizing aroma began to waft from their kitchen, through the courtyard, and into the air. They lived too far from the village for others to smell it, leaving only Shen An and Shen Ning to be enticed."

"After Shen Ning finished removing the cloths, the blocks of white tofu were laid out on the bottom boards. Only when the marinade was ready did Sang Luo start to stew them."

"A single pot couldn't stew them all at once, so while the first batch was cooking, Sang Luo had Shen Ning light another fire, keeping it low but slightly stronger than charcoal."

"The bamboo strips washed and dried that afternoon were now put to use. Sang Luo brought them in and arranged them over the stove. Once the first batch of dried tofu was well marinated, she took them out, laying each piece on the bamboo strips above the low fire for roasting."

"The taste of marinated dried tofu depends firstly on the stewing and secondly on the skill of roasting."

"They worked into the quiet of the night before finally finishing the preparation of this dish."

"The siblings gazed at the roasted marinated dried tofu with amazement, itching to try a piece."

"Sang Luo, amused, cut a small piece for each, chuckling, 'You can try it, but it’s best enjoyed stir-fried with garlic sprouts.'"

"Shen An laughed, 'We’re just curious. Sister-in-law, our household has added another source of income, hasn’t it?'"

"Indeed, another source of income."

"Sang Luo nodded."

"Shen Ning, however, pointed out, 'This seems much more laborious than making tofu, requires more materials, and uses costly spices for the marinade. How will we price it?'"

"A valid concern."

"Sang Luo, calculating the costs, replied, 'We haven’t weighed it, so let’s sell it by the piece. The cost is much higher than tofu, especially with rising rice prices. We can’t sell it too cheaply.'"

"She pondered for a moment, then said, 'If we charge our aunts ten cents for ten pieces, we can sell it in the market for two cents a piece.'"

"Selling ten pieces would yield a profit of five cents, which seemed similar to tofu, but in reality, while one piece of tofu could suffice for a dish, the same wasn't true for marinated dried tofu. Thrifty households might use two or three pieces with garlic sprouts for a dish, while larger families might use four or five."

"Whether people bought two or three pieces at a time, or four or five, the dried tofu was sure to sell more than tofu."

"For the residents of the county, spending four, six, or eight cents for a dish was somewhat luxurious, but affordable for nearly half of the households on a regular basis."

"Thinking this through, Sang Luo felt reassured, 'That’s settled then. This product is too labor-intensive and troublesome to make, and selling it cheaply wouldn’t be worth our effort. Our skill, time, and energy are also part of the cost.'"

"Hearing that selling ten pieces of dried tofu could bring in fifteen cents, Shen Ning’s eyes lit up."

"‘There were 128 pieces on two boards! We just ate one…’ Shen Ning lamented, continuing under her breath, ‘127 pieces, 127 pieces…’"

"‘Sister-in-law, how much is 127 pieces worth?’"

"Shen An also quietly calculated, then replied when he heard his sister’s question, ‘In decimal, 120 pieces are twelve sets of ten, so twelve sets of ten…’"

"But, he still couldn’t quite figure it out."

"Confused, the siblings exchanged glances, then both looked at Sang Luo."

"Sang Luo: ..."

"It seemed that in addition to writing, math lessons were also in order. Perhaps start with the multiplication table before bed?"