If you have the opportunity to visit Tuan Chinh commune, Vinh Tuong district, you will be warmly treated with the rural specialty - turtle tofu. This dish is often present in daily meals t here.
The origin of the name “Turtle tofu”
This country dish is not made from turtle meat or has turtle shape, but simply, it is called after its local name - Turtle village, Tuan Chinh commune. Turtle village includes 3 hamlets of Trung, Thuong and Tao. In particular, turtle tofu is only made in Trung and Thuong hamlets. After 1945, although the names of the villages were changed, people still used this name.
Making turtle tofu from generations to generations
Making tofu is considered as a traditional handicraft of Turtle village in the past. In Turtle village, there are many families with five or six generations making tofu. Many elderly people in the village cannot remember when this profession was born, they only knew that when they grew up they saw their parents made, and then passed on to each other after generation.
Stay up late, get up early to make turtle tofu
Turtle tofu always comes in two types: baked beans and white beans. The way to make tofu is similar to these in many other places, with the difference in the shape with small size. Each is only bigger than a matchbox, so the cloth for the tofu bag is only slightly bigger than the hand.
According to the elders in the village, the main factor that makes the tofu taste different is the water source in this land. This answers the question of why the girls in the village get married and bring this profession to their husband’s land but the tofu is not as delicious as made in Turtle village. In addition, people in the village always respect the tradition from selecting raw beans, to the last step of baking and selling tofu. They do not pay much attention to profit but keep the unique flavor of the tofu.
The tofu maker always chooses high quality round soybeans, then soak them in water in 5-6 hours in hot weather, but if it is cold, soak longer. When the beans are fully open, puree and pour them into a cloth bag, squeeze and filter a few times to remove the residue, only taking the bean milk.
This part of water will be boiled on a charcoal stove, when it is boiling, it must be lifted quickly or the bean juice will spill out and the beans easily smell bad. When the broth is still hot, quickly mix the seed water (fermented water sour from the previous day's pickled bean broth), gently swing your hand until you see a piece of tofu sprout. Then decant off the clear water, scoop each bowl of beans into the mold (sprayed with a clean cloth above), then wrap. When the water is drained, the white beans are lifted out and finished with the white tofu. Grilled Turtle beans, after being pressed, the white tofu will be removed and placed on a grill over embers. When baking, quickly turn the tofu over so that the tofu is evenly yellow and not burned. Turtle tofu, when finished, will be firmer, and will enhance the aroma of roasted soybeans.
Initially, the tofu was only sold at the commune's Tao market, but gradually, they followed the women to further markets such as Vinh Yen market, Viet Tri market, Bach Hac market, Kieu market, Chua market, Giang market, Bo Sao market ... The name of this tofu is known in many places and has become a familiar dish of many families. Therefore, people in Turtle village have gone away for a long time to come back to their homeland to taste the cool and sweet taste of the tofu.
Delicious food for everyone
Turtle tofu is easy to eat, especially in the summer, you can eat white tofu, baked tofu, fried tofu, dipped with country sauce, fish sauce or shrimp paste. Turtle tofus are best eaten when they are still hot. They are also used to process with many attractive dishes such as cooking with eels, snails, frogs; "Bun cha with tofu"; "Tofu stuffed meat"; "Salad of Tofu ...
Turtle tofu that exists to today is also thanks to the respect, preservation and transmission of the traditional profession of those who have been making it. Turtle tofu is a special "clean" food that is really delicious, nutritious, and cheap for everyone.
Collected by Vinh Phuc Portal
