Mo village tofu is a popular dish, cheap but delicious, and has long been a favorite dish, a permanent nostalgia of Hanoi lovers. Mo village tofu deserves the “king of tofu” praise.
The folk saying “dress in Beijing”, which means that the Hanoi people in the past are famous for their elegance, fashion, gourmet and especially gourmet. With a long history and features of convergence, crystallization and diffusion, Hanoi’s cuisine has shown its charm, solemnity and sophistication in each dish.
Not only that, Hanoi cuisine is also considered a cultural heritage because each dish is associated with historical stories, refined and enriched through generations, creating a part of the soul of the region. Kinh land.
One of those dishes is Mo beans made by people in Mai Dong village, Hoang Mai district (formerly known as Mo guys).
Mai Dong village (now Mai Dong ward, Hoang Mai district) in the old Ke Mo region, is one of the ancient villages of Thang Long capital city. Legend has it that, General Nguyen Tam Trinh (from Thanh Hoa), a general of Hai Ba Trung, when passing through this land, saw plum blossoms, apricots and plums blooming so he stayed to open the furnace. Having soybean seeds brought from his hometown, he taught the villagers to make tofu.
The story is that Mo village tofu must be made from Mo village well water to be particularly delicious. Now, Mo village wells are still there, but people have turned to tap water for convenience in production.
The job of making tofu is quite hard because you have to wake up from early morning to make hot beans for the early market. The production process is also laborious and complex, requiring experienced craftsmen.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyen, a tofu maker in Mo village, said that the selection of beans alone must be very careful: “Delicious beans are 10 like 10, equal. When they bite a bean, the teachers see that the core is white, beautiful, and delicious, and satisfactory … “.
After selecting beans, they will be put in a crushed stone mill, then sifted, peeled and broken beans. Then, soak in clean water for 3-4 hours to soften and rinse it again. This time, put into the mill to grind into powdered water. It is interesting that the people of Mai Dong village still use the old stone mortars to grind but have electric motors to save labor.
The powdered barrels after grinding are milky white and very smooth, emitting a characteristic aroma. After finishing the filter, put in a large pan to boil. If the fire is too high, the bean pot will be dull, the bean will not have a fatty smell. If the heat is too low, the bean paste will not be compared. Another thing is that Apricot beans do not use any chemicals but a little salt when mixed with powdered water.
After the dough has been boiled, the equally important next step is to precipitate the dough, or in other words, “flower”. The worker will use sour water brewed from the powdered water from the previous batch, then stirring one hand with the chopsticks, the other holding the sour water slowly poured in: “Mix until precipitation is stopped. This it has no rate but only seasonal hot and cold only. Stir the hands to match the flowers. Pour the sour water must be very fit, too much beans will be hard, but too little will be young, not a cake. ” – Ms. Trieu Thi Hoang, longtime tofu from Mai Dong village revealed.
Then, the worker will use a rack to put into the barrel of precipitated powder to prevent and scoop out the clear water, leaving the frozen peas. This bean will be scooped into a shaping mold covered with clean white hand-woven fabrics to squeeze out water before being sold to the market.
Apricot beans dotted with shrimp paste
After eating, the morning comes again
Why did you marry me?
Because you love Mai Dong, because you crave the Apricots
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the dishes made from Apricot beans are not only loved by the people of Ha Thanh but also retain the aroma of each visitor when visiting Hanoi. The white, square, soft and creamy tofu covers, after being fried, become very special.
In the past, Apricot beans were sold at every door in Hanoi. In addition to white beans, Mai Dong people also make baked beans on charcoal, which are sold to people who go to theater, Cai Luong at theaters, or to people pulling handcars as a night gift. Where customers eat, beans are baked there.
Through the ups and downs of time and changes in social life, the profession of making beans is more or less fading, but families still keep their jobs, hoping to save delicious and cool beans.
The profession of making tofu in Mo village is meticulous and hard work. Without the love of the job, it is impossible to make delicious bean covers, worthy of people praising Dream tofu as “king” of tofu.
As a popular dish, cheap but delicious, when going to the street, Mo tofu becomes a favorite dish, a permanent nostalgia of Hanoi lovers./.
Dinh Chau / VOV