Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 81 Bean Dregs Cake

Chapter 81: Chapter 81 Bean Dregs Cake

Luo Huiniang didn’t understand, but she didn’t ask further; she just kept tending the fire and watched the iron pot.

Gu Jinli took two tablespoons of vinegar, placed them in a bowl, added an appropriate amount of water, and mixed them well for later use.

After 30 minutes, the soy milk in the pot began to boil, bubbling up profusely. Gu Jinli stirred the soy milk with a wooden spoon to prevent it from sticking to the pot while she skimmed off the foam little by little. Once the foam was removed, she said to Luo Huiniang, "Hui Niang, pull out the fire."

Luo Huiniang had been waiting for this, and upon hearing it, she quickly removed the burning wood from the stove and buried it under the ash in the lower part of the clay stove.

As she looked at the soy milk in the iron pot, Luo Huiniang asked Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, is this tofu? Why does it still look like milk?"

Gu Jinli replied, "Wait a bit longer, when the temperature of the soy milk drops by about twenty percent, then we can add the coagulant to turn it into tofu pudding." She took a large pottery bowl, scooped out a bowl of cooked soy milk for the family to drink, and began to wait for the temperature of the soy milk to drop.

After waiting for about 15 minutes and having set aside three sheets of bean curd skins to dry, she slowly added the prepared vinegar water to the pot, stirring gently as she poured.

Soon, chunks of coagulated tofu pudding appeared in the pot, and once the tofu pudding completely separated from the water, she stopped stirring.

"Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu, is it ready?" Luo Huiniang pointed at the tofu pudding in the pot with a frown, "Is this tofu? It’s quite white, but so fragmented, how do we eat it?" It seemed less appealing than stewed beans.

Gu Jinli explained, "Don’t rush, wait another 15 minutes, these pieces of tofu pudding will grow larger, then we can scoop out the large pieces, place them in a wooden box, and press them into tofu."

After 15 minutes, as predicted, the tofu pudding did indeed grow into larger pieces. Luo Huiniang, astonished, pointed at the pot and exclaimed, "They, they actually change." It’s magical! How did Xiao Yu do it?

Gu Jinli, looking at the coagulated tofu pudding in the pot, was also quite satisfied.

In her previous life, she had seen her grandmother make tofu using brine. She didn’t have brine and could only use vinegar water; unexpectedly, the tofu turned out quite well.

"Xiao Yu, the wooden box is ready." Gu Dashan, an experienced carpenter, had finished making the box by the time they had boiled the soy milk.

"We made three, is that enough? If not, Dad can make more."

The day before yesterday, after clearing the mud from the old well, some men went to cut trees nearby intending to make tables and chairs. They had chopped down three trees and kept them in the courtyard, ready to make wooden boxes at any moment.

Gu Jinli looked at the three square, basket-sized wooden boxes that were about one finger deep and joyfully said, "Dad, your craftsmanship is truly excellent, the boxes are very well made."

Without using nails, just joining them directly; the joints had no gaps whatsoever, this level of craftsmanship, if placed in modern times, would surely belong to a master woodworker.

Gu Jinli took the wooden boxes, washed them twice, then cut the coarse hemp cloth used for filtering the soy milk into three pieces, lined the wooden boxes with them, scooped the tofu pudding into the boxes, covered them with the hemp cloth, pressed them down with wooden boards and large stones, and left them on clay bricks to drain.

Altogether, three wooden boxes were filled, all placed in the courtyard.

Mrs. Cui, Third Grandma, and others were curious, gathering around the wooden boxes and asking, "Is this tofu?"

Gu Jinli replied, "Once the water from the tofu pudding has drained off, it will become tofu."

She suggested, "Let’s have tofu for dinner tonight; we’ll make Fried Five-Spice Tofu, add some chili, it’ll be delicious with rice."

Mrs. Cui did not know how the spiced tofu was made, so she did not ask in detail and just let her have her way.

Gu Jinli took this opportunity to ask Mrs. Cui for some flour: "Mom, please give me some flour, the amount required to make bean dregs cake for you all."

The five catties of soybeans indeed yielded four catties of bean dregs, enough to make cakes to feed the family for a day; it would be a waste not to use it.

Mrs. Cui was a bit reluctant, but still gave her half a bowl of flour and a small plate of fatty oil. The oil was freshly rendered this morning and smelled fragrant.

Gu Jinli felt very fortunate. Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui, despite being thrifty, doted on their children greatly. They allowed her to do small, harmless things without hindrance.

"Thank you, Mom. You all wait for the delicious bean dregs cakes," she said as she took the flour and fatty oil and headed to the kitchen with Luo Huiniang. Following behind were Third Grandma and Brother Cheng tagging along like little tails.

Third Grandma had tried making bean cakes before but failed, so she was curious to see how Gu Jinli would do it. Could she succeed?

In the kitchen, Gu Jinli gradually mixed the flour into the bean dregs, stirring evenly, then added her ground fennel, bay leaf powder, salt, minced green onions, and half a spoon of the fatty oil to the mix, stirring until even before asking Luo Huiniang to start the fire.

Once the pan was heated, she brushed a thin layer of oil in it and placed the palm-sized bean dregs cakes into it, frying them on low heat: "Hui Niang, keep the fire low. Too high and it will burn."

"Okay." Luo Huiniang wasn’t skilled at cooking but was good at managing the fire, maintaining it without letting it get too strong.

After frying for about fifteen minutes, the bean dregs cakes turned golden brown on both sides and emitted a fragrant aroma.

Third Grandma watched the cakes in the pan and couldn’t close her mouth for the surprise: "So these soybeans can really make good cakes! From now on, we no longer need to eat stewed soybeans; we can eat these cakes." It meant using some flour, though.

Brother Cheng, standing on his tiptoes and craning his neck to look at the cakes in the pan, asked, "Second Sister, are they cooked yet? Are they ready?" He was eager to try them.

Gu Jinli smiled, "Just a bit longer; they’ll be ready soon."

She then sprinkled a little water into the pan and covered it with a wooden lid. After the water evaporated, she removed the cakes from the pan onto a plate. Taking a bean dregs cake, she cooled it slightly with her breath and handed it to Brother Cheng: "Eat up, but be careful, it’s hot."

"Mm!" Brother Cheng nodded vigorously, took the bean dregs cake, took a bite, and his mouth was instantly filled with a rich fragrance. He squinted his eyes smilingly at Gu Jinli and said, "It’s delicious, Second Sister makes it tasty."

Third Grandma and Luo Huiniang too picked up a bean dregs cake and took a bite: "Mm, really good. I didn’t expect the cakes made from bean dregs and flour to be this delicious."

Seeing them eating happily, Gu Jinli was also delighted and continued to fry a new batch of bean dregs cakes.

After learning how to make the cakes, Third Grandma took the fried bean dregs cakes and, with Brother Cheng, left the kitchen to serve them to Third Grandpa, Gu Dashan, Mrs. Cui, Gu Jin’an, and Gu Jinxiu.

After they tasted the cakes, everyone was pleasantly surprised. They hadn’t expected soybean dregs to make such delicious cakes.

"Delicious, not bland at all, much better than eating stewed soybeans, and from now on, we should consider these bean dregs cakes as our staple food," suggested Third Grandpa.

Third Grandma nodded in agreement: "These five pounds of soybeans yielded about four pounds of bean dregs and three boxes of tofu, more cost-effective than eating stewed soybeans."

"Why, Third Aunt, what are you eating? The aroma has even drifted to my place," Mrs. Chen, along with Gu Dewang and Gu Defa, came to Gu Dashan’s courtyard, and seeing the golden bean dregs cakes in the pottery bowl, her eyes sparkled greedily, she swallowed her saliva and pushed Gu Dewang and Gu Defa forward, scolding, "Brother Wang, Brother Fa, you two unmannered rascals, what are you waiting for? Quickly greet Third Grandma, Third Grandpa, Uncle Dashan, Aunt Dashan."