Chapter 72: Witnessing "Setting Tofu with Gypsum
He ladled all the remaining soymilk from the pot into a large basin.
Then, he took out the gypsum powder.
"Gypsum sets tofu." Except for Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei, all the other girls, including Ye Shengge, knew this saying, even if they had never seen the tofu-making process firsthand.
So, when they saw Li You take out the gypsum powder, they knew the most magical moment was about to arrive.
They never imagined they would get to witness the legendary "gypsum setting tofu" with their own eyes. The anticipation was immense!
All the girls took out their phones, ready to record.
Even Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng wore looks of anticipation.
Seeing how excited everyone was, Li You felt a bit eager himself.
He began the process.
He measured out a specific amount of gypsum powder and dissolved it in a certain amount of clean water.
The amount of gypsum powder and water was crucial, directly affecting the quality of the finished tofu.
Generally speaking, making a pound of tofu required about 10 grams of gypsum powder.
And the amount of water was ten times the amount of gypsum powder.
However, these were just rough figures for beginners to use as a reference.
The ideal amounts required a comprehensive judgment based on factors like air temperature, water quality, the soymilk’s temperature and concentration, and the desired texture of the tofu.
It all came down to the maker’s experience.
Li You had mastered the perfect measurements.
By the time the gypsum powder had completely dissolved in the water, the temperature of the soymilk in the large basin had cooled to around 90 degrees Celsius.
This was the most suitable temperature for coagulation.
And so, under the intensely eager gazes of everyone present, Li You slowly poured the gypsum water into the soymilk.
He stirred continuously as he poured.
When all the gypsum water had been added, the soymilk had already changed noticeably, taking on a curdled appearance.
’Perfect.’
If they wanted to eat tofu pudding, it was ready at this stage.
This tofu pudding would definitely be delicious.
’But we won’t be eating it this time.’
’With so many people, if everyone had a bowl, there probably wouldn’t be anything left for the next step.’
’I’ll have to treat everyone to it some other time.’
Watching the soymilk gradually transform, the girls felt it was magical, and they were filled with joy and satisfaction.
They had finally seen the entire process of "gypsum setting tofu" with their own eyes.
This trip was absolutely worth it.
"Isn’t this tofu pudding? It looks so delicious!" a girl said.
Li You smiled. "It is. I’ll pick a time to make tofu pudding especially for everyone."
His words made everyone’s eyes light up.
"Boss, you can’t forget!" the girls all said.
Li You nodded. "Since I’ve said it, I definitely won’t forget."
The girls, including Ye Shengge, Xia Xiaoyue, and Yu Wei, were all filled with anticipation.
Even Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng felt a little tempted.
"Boss, is it time for the last step now, pressing the tofu?" Xia Xiaoyue asked.
Li You nodded. "Getting ready to press it now."
"Press?"
The other girls, including Ye Shengge, were puzzled.
’Tofu is so delicate, it breaks at the slightest touch. How can you press it?’
But then they saw Li You pick up the wooden box that had been sitting off to the side and place it on two long benches.
Then he lined the wooden box with a piece of cheesecloth.
After that, he poured all of the curdled soymilk into the box.
He smoothed it out.
Then he folded the cheesecloth over the top of the curds.
Finally, he put the lid on.
’Wait, it’s not over yet.’
They watched as Li You placed a large bucket full of water on top of the lid.
’A bucket that big must weigh dozens of pounds, right?’
As soon as the weight was applied, a milky liquid began to seep out from the sides of the wooden box.
’So this is the final step of making tofu, "pressing the tofu"?’
’So that’s what the wooden box was for—the final step.’
They hadn’t understood before what the wooden box was for.
Now they finally understood.
It turned out making tofu required pressing it with such a heavy object.
The girls, including Ye Shengge, found it a bit incredible.
Li You chuckled. "This isn’t heavy. Do you know what tool they use to press tofu in a professional tofu workshop?"
"What is it?" Ye Shengge and the other girls asked curiously.
"A jack!" Li You answered.
The answer left Ye Shengge and the other girls completely incredulous.
’Well, if it’s just the weight of the jack itself, that’s not a big deal.’
"No. It’s not the weight of the jack itself," Li You added. "They place the jack between the lid and a fixed brace above it, then operate the jack to apply pressure."
Ye Shengge and the other girls were utterly astounded.
Even Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng were very surprised.
That was something they had never known before.
They had really learned something new.
Li You smiled. "It sounds incredible, but it’s true."
After a moment, he continued, "Alright, the tofu needs to press for about twenty minutes, so let’s leave it be for now. Now I’ll treat everyone to some soymilk."
Li You had intentionally set aside a basin of soymilk for everyone to drink.
The temperature was just right.
"Wow! Thank you, Boss!" The girls were once again delighted and excited.
This soymilk was bound to be delicious. They’d been craving it for a while.
Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, Qu Feng, as well as Lin Guodong and the others, all expressed their thanks with unrestrained joy.
Li You brought out enough bowls from the kitchen.
One bowl for each person.
No sugar was added, nor anything else.
Real soymilk itself is incredibly fragrant and mellow; it doesn’t need anything added.
Doing so would only ruin the soymilk’s natural fragrance and richness.
Looking at the steaming, fragrant soymilk in their bowls, everyone couldn’t wait to start drinking.
The first sip was fragrant and mellow.
’It’s delicious!’
’This is real soymilk. This is what soymilk is supposed to taste like.’
The sugary, watered-down soymilk from outside couldn’t even compare.
They kept drinking.
GULP, GULP.
The large bowl of soymilk was quickly drained.
’So satisfying!’
Every single person was completely satisfied.
"This is the first time I’ve ever had soymilk this delicious."
"So this is how fragrant and rich soymilk can be. I never used to like soymilk; I thought it didn’t taste good. Now I know it’s not that soymilk tastes bad, but that I’d never had real soymilk before."
"Looks like I’ll have to start making my own soymilk from now on. The stuff you buy outside is no good."
"Boss, thank you for the soymilk."
"..."
The girls all expressed their thanks one after another.
Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng also expressed their gratitude.
Of course, they often drank pure, unsweetened soymilk like this. But today’s batch seemed exceptionally fragrant and rich.
Seeing everyone so satisfied, Li You was also very happy and smilingly told them there was no need for thanks.
Afterwards, everyone chatted while eagerly awaiting the final formation of the tofu.
「About twenty minutes later.」
"Ingredient: Tofu.
Quality: Medium."
The system prompted.
Li You was overjoyed. ’It’s finally done.’
’And it’s even Medium quality.’
’Now, Mapo Tofu can finally meet the customers.’
’As for why it didn’t reach High quality...’
’It’s obviously because the raw ingredient, the soybeans, were only Medium quality.’
’It’s pretty much impossible to make High-quality tofu from Medium-quality soybeans.’
...
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