If you want to make steamed buns with tofu, you have to choose the thin and chewy ones, so that the buns are chewy and taste better. And the tofu from Ding Laotou's daughter's family is just like this.
The soy sauce-colored dried bean curd is as big as a palm and is stacked one by one. It is thin and translucent when picked up. Break off a piece and taste it. The light salty taste is mixed with the aroma of aniseed. This kind of dried bean curd is delicious even without secondary processing.
As soon as Old Man Ding took out the three pounds of dried tofu, Jiang Miao immediately made the decision and asked him to help bring five pounds of dried tofu every day.
After the morning market was over, Jiang Miao returned to his residence with his load on his shoulders. After a short rest, he took out the dried tofu and washed it. Then he put it on a large chopping board and cut it into half-centimeter-wide strips, and then cut it into small cubes. Three pounds of dried tofu may not seem like much, but it was not a small amount after it was cut. It was piled up in a small basin.
If you want to make the tofu buns delicious, seasoning the stuffing is the key. The stuffing cannot be raw like radish, it must be fried in a pan first, so that it can fully absorb the seasonings in the pan, and the steamed buns will taste delicious.
Jiang Miao lit a fire and put some oil in the pot. After the oil was heated, he poured in the seasoning he had prepared in advance. When the dry powder hit the hot oil, a rich aroma came to his face. Jiang Miao took a deep breath and felt like he was hungry again.
He actually ate two steamed buns in the morning. Since he started his business, his breakfast has hardly changed. At noon, he usually makes some cabbage soup with rice to fill his stomach and then starts to work. At night, he either has leftover soup with rice or steamed buns. After smelling such a strong fragrance, Jiang Miao suddenly felt that he seemed to have treated himself a little badly during this period. Apart from other things, although he has no money to buy a car or a house in modern times, he still often goes to places like restaurants and night snack stalls, and eats meat every day.
Thinking of this, he decided that he must go and get some meat today! Oil and water are harmful if there is too much of them, but it is absolutely impossible to have them without them. With an inexplicable excitement, Jiang Miao poured the tofu grains in the small bowl into the pot, and quickly stirred them up and down with the seasonings in the pot so that each tofu grain could be covered with some seasonings. After frying for about two minutes, Jiang Miao shoveled it out of the pot and poured it into the small bowl. That's about it. If you fry it for a little longer, the tofu will become old, and the taste will not be very good.
He covered the dried tofu and set it aside to cool, then picked up the basket and hurried to the butcher's shop. When he arrived at the butcher's shop, the pork on the chopping board had been sold out, leaving only a piece of meat with more lean meat and less fat, which did not meet the aesthetic taste of modern people at all.
Jiang Miao felt that he hadn't eaten meat for a long time. In fact, he also wanted to buy some fat and lean meat to braise. The braised pork is shiny and oily, and the meat trembles when you pick it up. When you take a bite, it is full of oil and meaty aroma. How delicious it should be!
Jiang Miao sipped his saliva, pointed at the piece of meat and asked, "Boss, how much is this meat?"
The butcher who was watching over the stall was not very tall, but he looked very strong. He glanced at Jiang Miao and said, "This meat is 25 cents a pound. How much do you want?"
"This piece of meat doesn't have any oil or water at all, why do you want so much?" Jiang Miao asked in pretended surprise.
"Why is there no oil? This, this, isn't it all?" The butcher pointed to the fat parts.
"This is too little. You won't be able to make any oil if you take it back, and the lean meat will be hard to eat. How about this, you can give me a cheaper price and I'll buy the whole thing, so you don't have to cut it all." Jiang Miao said.
The butcher frowned. The gentlemen who usually came to buy meat were not very fond of bargaining.
"One penny cheaper."
"One penny?" Jiang Miao questioned. "You bought so much! If I buy them all at once, you won't have to watch the stall here today. You'll save so much time. Maybe you can even help with some housework when you go back—"
"Three cents, if you don't want to buy, go!" The butcher was somewhat tempted by what he said. His wife was not in good health, so it would be good to go back early. In addition, the last bit of meat was usually hard to sell. Most people picked the fat and disliked the lean, but few bought. But the price reduction was still somewhat unpleasant, so he spoke in a bad tone at this time.
"Okay, big brother, please help me weigh it." Jiang Miao didn't care about his tone at all and smiled at him. Three cents was equivalent to a pound of dried tofu for free today.
The butcher felt a little embarrassed when he saw him smile. He silently helped him weigh the meat and gave him a small piece of bone he had chopped off from the side.
Jiang Miao was even happier when he saw it. He took out the copper coins he had counted and handed them over, and said a few nice words.
He brought the meat home, put the washed rice into the pot to cook, and then started to process the meat. Because it was not fatty, it could not be braised, so he simply fried it.
He cut half of the meat into thin slices and put the other half in a bowl and covered it. After seasoning, he added some flour and kneaded it to make the meat more tender. In fact, he should have added starch, but he didn't have any, so he could only add a little flour instead.
After processing the meat, he picked a few green garlics, washed them, cut them into sections, and set them aside for later use.
The aroma of rice in the pot also came out. Jiang Miao opened the lid and saw that it was the most perfect rice with crispy rice crust. There was a thin layer of crispy rice crust at the bottom, which tasted so delicious.
He served the rice, cleaned the pot, put in some oil, and when the oil was hot, pushed the chopped green garlic in. After stir-frying it for a few times, he pushed it aside with a spatula and poured the meat down the side of the pot.
The burnt aroma that emanated from the moment the meat was put into the pot was simply crazy, especially for Jiang Miao, who hadn't eaten meat for a long time. His stomach was cramping and aching at this moment.
He swallowed his saliva and continued to stir-fry. When the meat changed color, he mixed the green garlic in and stir-fried it together. When it was almost time to put it in the pot, he put some salt in it, and then stirred it twice casually, and it was ready to be served.
Jiang Miao picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. He was so happy that he wanted to cry. He confirmed once again that he was a carnivore!
Next, he wolfed down the food. Fortunately, no one else was here, otherwise people would have thought that what they saw were refugees. Jiang Miao also wanted to control his eating habits, but the delicious taste in his mouth made him unable to stop.
After all the work, Jiang Miao leaned back in his chair and burped. He decided that no matter how busy he was, he would never treat himself badly in terms of food! In life, he had to satisfy the most basic needs of eating and drinking before he could pursue spiritual pleasure.
The three pounds of dried bean curd made nearly thirty buns, which were smaller than those stuffed with carrots. But Jiang Miao decided to sell them for two cents each, after all, the price of the raw materials was quite different, and one pound of dried bean curd was three times that of one pound of carrots.
Just as he put down his load, he saw Shopkeeper Wang coming towards him.
Jiang Miao greeted him familiarly, "Shopkeeper Wang, we have a new kind of buns with different fillings today. You should try it."
Shopkeeper Wang did not reply, but looked at Jiang Miao with a somewhat strange look. He stared at Jiang Miao closely, as if thinking about something.
Jiang Miao didn't understand why he looked like this. Could it be that he didn't wear his clothes properly today, or his hair was not combed neatly
Jiang Miao reached out and touched it, and immediately thought to himself, "Oh no!" He forgot to cover his face!
"You...are you the guy who set up the stall in front?" Shopkeeper Wang was a little hesitant.
Jiang Miao smiled somewhat awkwardly.
Even more embarrassed than Jiang Miao was Shopkeeper Wang. He was a bit of a gossip-monger and had been comparing Jiang Miao with the young man in the past few days, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.
But why are they the same person? !
Thinking about how he had criticized others to their faces over the past few days, Shopkeeper Wang felt very uncomfortable.
Jiang Miao saw through his thoughts and was afraid that he would care too much and not patronize his business in the future, so he said, "Please forgive me, Shopkeeper Wang, I didn't mean to hide it. I just recovered from an illness a few days ago, and I covered my face with a cloth for fear of catching a cold. As for your comments on the buns I made in the past, I have to thank you! If you didn't give me your suggestions frequently, I wouldn't be able to make such delicious buns now."
After hearing what he said, Wang felt that he was quite sincere, and he felt much less embarrassed. Not only did he not mind, but he also thanked him. He suddenly felt that this young man was really generous.
"Brother Jiang, don't be offended. We are just being careless with our words. We don't mean any harm. Didn't you just say you had new fillings? Give me four."
Jiang Miao agreed with a smile and handed him four buns. Shopkeeper Wang took a bite and his eyes lit up immediately: "This bun is also delicious. I taste some bean flavor. Could it be that tofu is added?"
"Yes, this is my new tofu bun! You are amazing, you can tell the difference in one bite! You are worthy of being a famous gourmet on our street!"
Shopkeeper Wang was very happy to be coaxed by him. He was always proud of his ability to eat. He immediately stood beside the stall and started eating, and by the way, he also called his acquaintances to come over and try the new buns.
People around were tempted and came to buy, and soon the thirty were sold out. Those who didn't buy were even more curious about what the tofu buns would taste like. Unfortunately, there were not enough of these buns, so if you didn't hurry up, you would never be able to buy them.
So in the following days, Jiang Miao’s tofu buns always sold faster than those with radish filling.
One day, Aunt Liu sent her grandson to a private school, and when she came back she kept sighing.
Jiang Miao was chopping stuffing outside. When he saw her, he asked her what was going on.
Aunt Liu frowned and said, "Isn't this another tuition payment? I have to spend this much every month. Five hundred coins is enough to support me in the village for several months."
"You can't raise a scholar by just letting the villagers eat," Jiang Miao said with a smile, "Everyone knows that your grandson is ambitious. I heard that he was praised by the teacher a few days ago and was given a brush. When he becomes successful in the future, you will become a noble. Why do you still feel sorry for this little money?"
Speaking of this, Aunt Liu had a smile on her face and no longer cared about the five hundred coins.
"I'm grateful for your good words, but you must admit that my grandson is indeed better at studying than others. He has been in school for a year and has never been spanked by the teacher." She lowered her voice a little, "Just yesterday, Jingyu, the waiter of the Bai family, was beaten by the teacher because he couldn't recite the book. He came back crying."
Jiang Miao couldn't say anything more about his employer's shortcomings, so he turned to talk about other things. Aunt Liu had a wide range of sources of information, and soon Jiang Miao heard a story from her.
It is said that the 17th of this month is the birthday of Amitabha Buddha, and the Puling Temple in the north of the city will hold a Buddhist meeting. At that time, the doors of the main halls will be opened to welcome good men and women to go in and burn incense and worship Buddha. Most people in Liang State believe in Buddhism, so there must be a lot of people going to burn incense at that time, and the scene must be very spectacular.
But for Jiang Miao, what does a large crowd mean? It means an opportunity to make a fortune! With such a large scene, it must be very profitable to set up a stall and sell things!
(End of this chapter)