There are two kinds of food that are both smelly and fragrant.
One is durian and the other is stinky tofu.
People who like it like it very much, and people who don’t like it feel like vomiting when they smell it.
But in comparison, more people seem to be able to accept stinky tofu? It's hard to say, anyway, Su Wan likes it, whether it's the way the tofu is fermented or the sauce inside, it's very popular.
Today is the 20th day of the first lunar month, and she has to stay in the North Kitchen for 15 days. Although her food and accommodation will be provided by the Shangshenjian and she is only temporarily assigned here, she has to stay in the North Kitchen for the entire half month, and it would be bad for her to refuse everyone's request to cook every day.
In that case, let’s have some fragrant and stinky stinky tofu!
Everyone liked the Hunan rice noodles last time, and this time it will be very good too.
But the name was really scary. As soon as Su Wan said the name of stinky tofu, everyone in the North Kitchen was surprised.
Stinky tofu?
What is this?
Everyone knows tofu, but what is stinky tofu?
Su Wan thought about how to explain it, and said, "Soybeans are fermented into soybean paste, but the mold must be covered during fermentation. That's how stinky tofu is made."
With this explanation, I don't feel any better at all, it's actually even more terrifying!
Tofu is moldy? Can I still eat it?
Su Wan didn't expect that the first thing she would do when she came here would be to make stinky tofu, but since she had already done it, there was nothing to be afraid of.
However, even stinky tofu has several preparation methods.
Some people directly cover the tofu pudding with a wooden board to press out the moisture to make dried tofu, and then fry it.
Some people also soak it in alum.
There is another method, which is the one Su Wan chose, which is to use brine.
The stinky tofu made in this way tastes more delicious.
This marinade is also quite special. It uses winter bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, fermented black beans, sesame seeds, etc., which are then processed and soaked in a jar. Wine is also indispensable.
But there is more than one way to make stinky tofu with brine, Su Wan just picked the most convenient one.
We will have to wait and see after half a month.
The tofu is the last step, so you can ignore it for now.
Not to mention the North Kitchen, even the palace servants in the West Kitchen who didn't know how to cook at the time didn't know about it. Wouldn't the food in there become smelly?
And isn’t Su Wan trying to fool them?
Just chop the ingredients and put them in jars?
Anyway, the brine will definitely stink.
Su Wan smiled: "Yes, this brine must be smelly, but this is the taste you want to eat."
Su Wan asked someone to put away the brine jar and said, "We'll open it in half a month."
The more I talk about half a month, the more I feel that it will stink to high heaven by then.
What Su Wan said is actually quite conservative. What's wrong with half a month? Some people who make stinky tofu even let the brine marinate for a year, and then use it after a year, so the flavor will be stronger.
Moreover, these brine can be reused. The longer the brine is kept, the more fragrant and smelly it tastes.
It is unknown how many decades the new brine and the old brine can be used if mixed together.
After the marinade for the stinky tofu is ready, it’s time to start the real work, which is changing the plates.
In fact, both the South and North kitchens have a rough idea of how to use dinner plates in the West Kitchen. Moreover, they have all worked in the kitchens for a long time, so they know how to do it after just a brief explanation, so it is a simple task.
In the eyes of others, rather than saying that Su Wan came to take a look at the dishes, it would be more accurate to let her familiarize herself with the work of several departments under the Shangshi Department.
Su Wan had been in the West Kitchen for several months, so needless to say she knew everything about the place. During that time, she became good friends with the Miscellaneous Storehouse, but she only vaguely understood the affairs of the Dessert Department. However, there were too many things to do in the Miscellaneous Storehouse, and it would take more than half a month to figure them all out.
So Su Wan was the first to come to the North and South Kitchens.
It's not just Su Wan, the group is obviously led by her.
Some people speculated that the female official did this on purpose so that these palace maids would be aware of the situation and would be able to do their jobs better in the Shangshenjian in the future.
I think that the former head of the Imperial Food Department had worked in several departments before he had his current status and position.
Su Wan didn’t think too much about it. It didn’t matter where she went or what she did, she could do it!
Except for being often begged to cook in the North Kitchen, everything else was fine.
She was able to get away with it with stinky tofu, but the same cannot be said for other foods. Some people even asked her to make some snow skin mooncakes during this season. Many people didn’t get to eat them during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, and they were missing them.
Looking at the atmosphere in the North Kitchen, you can tell that the relationships here are very harmonious. When Su Wan has nothing to do, she also cooks some food for everyone to taste.
Speaking of the North Kitchen, it is the second most important place in the Imperial Food Department after the South Kitchen. It is responsible for the food of more than 3,000 palace servants, and the office in charge is located on the northern half of the East Outer Palace.
This may sound a bit confusing, but it will make sense if you think about it carefully.
As mentioned before, there are very few government offices near the West Outer Palace, but there are many government offices near the East Outer Palace.
Just looking at the number of people, you can see that there are less than two thousand palace servants in the West Outer Palace, while there are more than seven thousand in the East Outer Palace.
So the East Outer Palace was divided with the middle line as the south part as the South Kitchen and the north part as the North Kitchen.
But the North Kitchen was responsible for more than three thousand palace servants.
When we arrived at the South Kitchen, the amount was more than four thousand.
It seems that there is only a difference of one thousand people, but the original Western Kitchen was only responsible for the meals of one thousand five hundred palace people, so the disparity can be imagined.
Because of these one thousand people, the Southern Kitchen has become the most important kitchen in the Shangshi Department, and its ingredients and manpower are usually the best.
No one has any objection to this.
The North Kitchen also seemed to accept this matter well.
Su Wan worked with the North Kitchen to prepare meals, and discovered that the palace servants who came here to eat were indeed very different.
Moreover, the small kitchen in the north kitchen was basically open, and officials would enter from time to time. However, the meals they ate could not exceed that much. It was okay to cook one or two more dishes, but if there were more, there would be no time to take care of them.
In comparison, the small kitchen in the west kitchen is basically idle, and you can also see the difference there.
No wonder the Chief Chef always sent the younger palace maids to the west kitchen, it was indeed easier there!
However, there are relatively more palace servants working here. There are only 120 people in the West Kitchen including the palace servants who came later, but there are 320 A-level palace maids in the North Kitchen.
This is normal. To be responsible for the meals of so many people, there must be more people.
During the time Su Wan was in the North Kitchen, she learned a lot. She also used the plates from the West Kitchen here, which was more convenient than before.
In fact, things that seem normal to many people have all gone through development.
Even in the Song Dynasty of Su Wan's time and space, before the Song Dynasty, people mostly ate noodles by kneading them and then pulling them into strips. It was not until the Song Dynasty that hand-cut noodles appeared, and the noodles that are commonly eaten in later generations came into being.
The appearance of dinner plates may seem ordinary to modern people, but to the people of Tianxiang Kingdom, they are a clever little idea with a big trick.
Su Wan was not willing to take credit for it, and instead said, "It's already been fifteen days, should we move out the brine from before and start making stinky tofu?"
Stinky tofu?
Why are you still thinking about this!
Many palace people in the North Kitchen almost accepted it and just let it be, since the thing was broken, they would just pretend nothing happened.
Why do they know it's broken?
Because the brine has to be taken out and stirred every day, and some alkali has to be added, then put back after stirring.
During the mixing process, the stench inside filled my head with so much that it was hard to breathe. How could this thing be delicious?
Whether it is possible or not, you will know only after you try it!
Su Wan looked at the black brine and drooled rarely!
It’s time to make stinky tofu!
She hasn't eaten in a long time.
When the lid of the brine was completely opened, the people around them took a few steps back because of the fumes. Deputy Prime Minister Bei was not there for the time being, but the left and right heads of the Bei Kitchen covered their noses and could not help but persuade: "This thing must be bad."
Su Wan shook her head: "It's hard to say, you will definitely be surprised later."
As she spoke, she placed the cut and boiled tofu in a basin, and then poured the brine into it. Su Wan was reluctant to use up all the brine, as she could continue to use it by adding some other things later.
If the brine is processed for a year, the stinky tofu will definitely taste better.
The tofu is boiled in tea leaves beforehand, leaving tiny pores on it. These pores allow the stinky tofu to absorb the brine better.
Now that the tofu has been soaked in brine, place it in a place in the kitchen with suitable temperature for three hours, and then it can be used to make the final product.
This is the fried stinky tofu that everyone often sees.
The frying process can reduce the smell inside and increase the fragrant taste.
Here we can also explain why stinky tofu smells bad but tastes good.
First of all, the stench is definitely a smell, because during the fermentation process of the brine, the microorganisms transform it into sulfides.
There is no need to be afraid when you hear about sulfides. These things are easy to volatilize. You can tell from the name that they definitely smell bad.
This is the “stink” of stinky tofu.
As for the aroma, it comes from the taste, that is, the food factor eaten.
Food affects mood. In fact, it is the food factors we eat that affect the serotonin in the brain, promoting the secretion of serotonin, which makes people feel happy.
Simply put, the food we eat promotes body secretions, making people happy.
The "fragrance" of stinky tofu naturally has corresponding food factors.
As mentioned before, the MSG that people in later generations often eat can be extracted from monosodium glutamate in kelp, which is also one of the raw materials of MSG.
Monosodium glutamate is a combination of glutamate and sodium.
The protein in soy products such as stinky tofu will also form glutamate through the reaction of mold and other fungi, which is also one of the raw materials for MSG and chicken essence.
Once you understand that adding MSG or chicken essence to dishes makes them taste better, you can basically understand why stinky tofu tastes so "fragrant".
Because these are food factors that the human body likes.
Just like sugar and carbs make people happy.
So it is very normal and reasonable to like to eat stinky tofu!
Ancient people certainly did not know these principles.
But they know that it tastes good! That's enough! Just like the ancients who didn't have the conditions to eat sugar, they were able to create sweet rice porridge, all for the sake of eating sweet food.
As Su Wan worked, she became more and more impressed by the wisdom of the ancient working people. It was because of them that there were so many snacks that are popular in the streets and alleys in later generations!
She couldn't wait to start frying the stinky tofu!
It will definitely make people like it and hate it!
Not to mention Su Wan, everyone in the North Kitchen also found it strange. On the one hand, they felt that Su Wan had never failed in cooking delicious food, but on the other hand, the smell of the stinky tofu was really unbearable.
Fortunately, it was covered with something and placed in the corner of the kitchen so no one could see it, otherwise I would have really felt like vomiting.
As it was almost time for lunch, everyone naturally became busy and forgot about the stinky tofu soaking next to them.
A eunuch from the Zhongshufang who happened to come over to see what to eat today opened the lid and was nearly knocked down by the fumes.
"What a stinky thing! Why put it on the stove? Don't you people in the North Kitchen know that the food is already spoiled?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
