Naturally fermented homemade molded tofu-fermented bean curd-hairy tofu

Overview

Naturally fermented molded tofu is restricted by various factors such as region, weather, temperature, humidity, sanitary conditions, etc. The finished products produced are various and carry certain risks, so please be careful!

Tags

• vegetarian dishes
• anhui cuisine
• lao doufu
• star anise
• zanthoxylum bungeanum
• salt

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Buy a piece of old tofu at the vegetable market and use heavy objects to press out part of the water. The time can be as short as 2 hours or as long as 24 hours. If the time is short, hair will not grow easily and it will become sticky.

   

2. 2 Bamboo sticks bought at the vegetable market cost 3 yuan a bunch and were of no use at all. First use boiling water to disinfect for more than 5 minutes, and then expose it to the sun for secondary disinfection. After many experiments, I personally feel that it is best to use rice dumpling leaves for natural fermentation, as the fermentation time is short and there is more mold. The steps to sterilize rice dumpling leaves are the same as bamboo skewers.

   

3. 3 After pressing the tofu, remove the old skin on the outside. It is best to remove the old skin on all six sides, and cut it into tofu cubes of any size and shape!

   

4. 4 Put the bamboo skewers on the bottom and place the tofu cubes, leaving gaps between them to facilitate the growth of mold. Place bamboo skewers on top of the tofu, and then cover the fermentation container. Note that it is covered but not sealed. The growth of mucorous mold requires ventilation. If you have a white cloth, it is best to cover it with a white cloth. Spray water on the white cloth regularly to increase the humidity. Bamboo skewers are also placed on the tofu in order to use the mold on the bamboo skewers to facilitate the growth of hair on the tofu.

   

5. 5 The temperature should be controlled below 28 degrees, preferably 17-18 degrees, and the humidity should be above 90%. You can put some water at the bottom of the container, or spray water on the white cloth covering it. Because it was summer in Beijing when I did it, the temperature could only be maintained at about 25 degrees. Mucor mold began to grow in three days. The fermentation time at 17 degrees is about 6 days, and the fermentation effect is also the best.

   

6. 6 When you see Mucor growing to about 1 cm, it means that the early fermentation is basically completed. Don't wait for it to grow more at this time. In my experience, it is basically useless in natural fermentation. If you don't go to the next step, that is, within a few hours, Mucor will begin to enter the crazy stage, the color will begin to change from white to yellow, and it will cover the surface of the tofu, similar to the soil outside an ant nest. Note: The appearance of black hair, green hair, black spots, and green spots indicates that harmful mold has fermented. Basically, it can be said that the tofu is useless and should be thrown away!!!

   

7. 7 After the preliminary fermentation is completed, you need to rub the hair. As the name suggests, it is to flatten the hair, let it stick to the tofu, and then leave it open to disperse the musty smell. If the smell is not released, you will always get a musty smell when you eat it in the future. The time to release the smell is basically more than 2 hours. After the flavoring is completed, start pickling and bottling. The pickling material is salt and pepper I bought from the supermarket. If you don’t have it on hand, just use table salt. If you like spicy food, wrap the tofu in chili powder before marinating. The bottle should be sterilized and dried, and a thin layer of salt should be sprinkled on the bottom of the bottle first, and no more should be sprinkled.

   

8. 8 Put a layer of tofu and sprinkle a layer of salt, plus a few peppercorns. Sprinkle more salt as you go up. Simply cover the top with salt. Do not roll the tofu in the salt. If all six sides are covered with salt, it will be inedible and it will be too salty. After bottling, secondary fermentation is carried out. Do not seal it completely. Fermentation lasts for four to eight days, depending on the individual.

   

9. 9 After the second fermentation is completed, make some peppercorns and aniseed water, let it cool, pour it into a bottle, cover the tofu, completely seal and refrigerate, and carry out the third fermentation. The fermentation time is about 2 months, and you can eat it in a hurry for 2 weeks.