Pepper Blossom Tofu

You can't have your cake and eat it too; even Jian Mo can't have that.

Jian Mo boiled the fruit pods twice, once with the pods Qing Kuo delivered, and once with the pods she had dried herself.

Wu Jiong didn't like either of them, Jian Mo thought they were alright. Paired with the stewed meat, she could vaguely taste a bit of the flavor of stewed dried green beans with meat—a bland version.

The pods weren't very tasty, and the beans were even worse.

However, none of them were poisonous. Jian Mo tested them with a male Pack-Pack Beast. The male Pack-Pack Beast, which had eaten half a bucket of beans and half a bucket of fruit pods, was lively and energetic and did not die for several days.

It seems that both the pods and beans are edible, so there's no need to worry about food safety for now.

The only thing that annoyed Jian Mo was that the male Pack-Pack Beast, who had eaten too many pods and beans, had developed a mild case of bloating; its belly was swollen and it kept farting.

For the next few days, Jian Mo didn't want to go into the livestock shed. If she had to go in, she would wear a mask.

The male Pack-Pack Beast was rejected by the female and huddled in a corner, its furry face seemingly showing embarrassment.

It seems the quantity needs to be carefully controlled, otherwise the consequences could be quite embarrassing.

Having finally found the beans, Jian Mo was unwilling to let the matter end like this.

After thinking about it for several days, he said to Wu Jiong, "Let's go to the salt lake and get some brine. I'll try to see if I can make tofu."

Wu Jiong: "Tofu?"

Jian Mo know how to describe it, so she said, "It's a kind of food similar to Flour Fruit or cake, which requires a complicated process that uses water from a salt lake."

Wu Jiong: "Okay, we'll go tomorrow and get some salt. The tribe's salt supply is almost used up."

The water in the salt lake is brine, which is rich in metal ions. It's definitely fine to use it to make tofu, at most it might not turn out very well.

If beans aren't tasty, surely tofu can't be too bad, right?

Chapter 101 Peppered Tofu

Jian Mo had been to the salt lake several times and had collected salt lake water several times.

This step was not difficult at all; they retrieved the salt lake water the next day.

The salt lake water is slightly clearer in summer than in winter, but it still has a translucent yellow hue.

Jian Mo dipped it in and tasted it. It was both salty and bitter, so it must contain a lot of metal ions. It would probably be a good choice for making brine.

Jian Mo said to Wu Jiong, "The salt lake water has been retrieved; next, we need to soak the beans and grind them into soy milk."

Wu Jiong: "Do the beans need to be boiled in salt water first?"

Jian Mo: "Boiling! It'll be safer if we boil it. After boiling, I'll soak it in the river for two days, and then we'll make tofu the day after tomorrow."

It was Jian Mo's first time making tofu, and he didn't know if he would succeed. He originally wanted to make a small batch, but Qing Kuo and the others brought soybeans to his door and said they wanted to make tofu with him so that everyone could taste it afterward.

Qing Kuo explained, "There are quite a lot of beans outside. If we can successfully make tofu, we'll add beans to our recipes in the future."

Jian Mo thought it over and agreed, "Let's give it a special name, how about 'Bitter Bean'? If we find any beans that aren't bitter later, we'll differentiate them again."

Qing Kuo agreed, "That's a good name; you can tell what kind of ingredient it is just by hearing it."

Jian Mo: "Okay, let's boil the beans and soak them tonight, then pick them up the day after tomorrow to make tofu."

Qing Kuo: "I'll also make some arrangements to clear out the space the day after tomorrow."

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and on the day they officially started making tofu, half of the tribe's sub-orcs came.

Qing Kuo said, "We'll follow your orders today. What are we supposed to do?"

Jian Mo had a plan in mind. "First, take these beans to the stone mill to be ground into soy milk. Once that's done, we'll move on to the next step."

Upon hearing this, everyone lifted the beans from the river and followed Jian Mo to the back mountain to grind the beans.

These beans were soaked for two days and expanded to three times their original size. Each bean was crystal clear and looked a bit like a translucent pebble.

Jian Mo gently pinched it with her hand, and the outer skin came off easily; the two soybeans were also easily crushed in her hand.

Jian Mo looked at the cleaned stone mill. "Remove the outer skin of the beans before grinding, and remember to wash your hands."

Everyone laughed, "We washed our hands a long time ago. How could we not wash our hands while cooking for you?"

Jian Mo laughed, "I'm just saying it a few more times, just in case."

They have enough manpower here. After carefully removing the outer skin, they put the large soybeans directly into the hole of the stone mill and slowly push the stone mill to grind soybeans into soy milk.

Today, when they were making soy milk, they didn't add any water at all. The resulting soy milk was white and thick, felt quite smooth to the touch, and smelled alright too.

Jian Mo directed them to grind three large baskets of soybeans, which produced five buckets of soy milk.

These five buckets of soy milk contained a lot of soy pulp. He took his men back to the kitchen, poured the soy pulp into a large iron pot, added water, and boiled it while stirring.

Perhaps due to repeated steaming, boiling, and soaking, the soy milk now finally has a pleasant soy aroma when cooked.

After the soy milk boiled, Jian Mo took a spoonful and tasted it. The bitterness was very mild, and the flavor was mostly that of soybeans.

A thought struck him, and he asked everyone to wait a moment before fetching a jar of sweet tree sap.

The sweet juice has been sitting for a few days and has now become even more concentrated, thicker and sweeter than honey. It should be great with soy milk.

Jian Mo said, "Everyone, bring out your bowls and try this soy milk."

Before making the soy milk, Jian Mo specifically asked Qing Kuo, "The beans have already been boiled and soaked. The soy milk looks like this now, so it shouldn't be poisonous, right?"

Qing Kuo said with certainty, "It's not poisonous."

Jian Mo took out a spoon and had someone put half a spoonful of sweet juice into each bowl, then poured in boiling soy milk.

The snow-white soy milk and sweet juice turned a pale yellow color as soon as they were mixed.

Jian Mo was especially careful when serving the soy milk to the little ones, only pouring half a bowl. "Hold it steady, be careful it's hot."

The soy milk in the pot was still cooking, and the aroma of soybeans was getting stronger and stronger, while the soy milk in their bowls had a sweet fragrance.

Some people who weren't afraid of the heat took a sip and were immediately captivated by the wonderfully smooth texture and sweet taste.