|
|
How did tofu came about? Apparently there is an interesting story. During the period of the Warring Kingdoms ( 481 B.C. - 221 B.C.), The Kingdom of Yan had a famous General named Le Yi. Le Yi’s ancestral home was in the village of Ling Shou which is known for its abundance of soybeans. (yellow beans - in Chinese) The people called it “Huang Dou Fu”- the yellow beans household/estate.
General Le Yi was a jolly and jovial person, and also very industrious. He had his lands planted with garden vegetables and of course soy beans. He rotated the crops, between green beans and soy, and was able to harvest continuously through the seasons.
General Le Yi was also very filial. He noticed that his old parents having lost their teeth were having problems chewing their food. It saddens him just to watch them. One day he soaked some soybeans, then ground them into milk and paste, intending to make it easier for old people to eat. He cooked milk and then reached for some salt to flavor it. He found that the salt container was empty.
There were however, some damp encrustations left at the bottom of the container. So he added a little water into the container swirled it around then poured the brine into his cooking. As he had to attend to something else, he extinguished the fire and left. When he returned a while later he was surprised to discover that the mixture had set into a brilliantly white, pleasingly soft jelly.
Calling his parents and his neighbours together he carefully lifted out the coagulated jelly, added some cooking oil and salt, and served it up. All who tasted it agreed that it was good stuff.
But what to call it? Someone suggested that since this was made in the Huang Fu (Huang’s estate), it should be called Huang Fu’s Meat. Later, this name was considered too long and shortened to “Fu’s Meat”. Then, combining the two Chinese characters, putting the word Fu over the word Meat (rou), it became the single word “Fu” and since it was made from beans (called dou in Chinese) it was called “dou fu” or tofu.
Interesting, no?
Up to the modern times, whenever the Hakka people celebrates the New Year and other major festivals, tofu is an indispensable dish for their dining tables. They have a saying, “if we did not eat Niang Tofu, we have not celebrated the New Year”. |
