novelraw Chapter 225: Tofu
Chapter 225: Tofu
The sight of the dead fish was actually a bit gruesome, but the stream’s long-time viewers didn’t care one bit.
All they cared about was—
[Fish Head Tofu Soup?]
[We only got the dish’s name today. What flavor is the soup! Is it sour, sweet, or spicy?]
"It’s mildly spicy. This dish is originally savory, but since it’s winter now... Many planets in the Federation have started to snow. On a snowy day, eating something a little spicy can warm your whole body up." As she answered the question, Jiang Qiuqiu’s hands never stopped moving. She deftly chopped several fish, arranged the heads evenly on the cutting board, and sprinkled pristine white grains of salt over them.
"To give the fish more flavor, we’ll add some black pepper while it marinates."
Once the seasonings were all rubbed in, Jiang Qiuqiu placed everything into a new thermostatic case to speed up the marinating process.
"While the fish marinates, let’s prepare the other star of this dish—the tofu."
Tofu wasn’t a commercially available product in the interstellar era.
However, Jiang Qiuqiu had previously seen the Agricultural Research Institute selling soybeans. On a whim, she bought a large amount. Since she had also made fish balls recently, she decided to combine her leftover fish and newly purchased beans to make Fish Head Tofu Soup.
When the tofu was brought out, it was still in large blocks. Jiang Qiuqiu had made three in total.
The viewers were actually quite dumbfounded when they first saw the tofu.
[?? What is that?]
[A wooden plank? White cloth? That’s food?]
It wasn’t until Jiang Qiuqiu lifted the cheesecloth off the tofu that its smooth, tender, milky-white surface was revealed to everyone.
Because the soybeans and the containers were quite large, the tofu she made was rather tall. When she lifted the white cheesecloth, the tofu wobbled unsteadily with a "DUANG," trembling in a way that was utterly adorable.
The mood in the comments shifted instantly.
Some said the tofu was cute.
[Eee! What is this dish? It’s so wobbly and cute!]
Others said the tofu didn’t look like an ingredient, but more like a little toy that elementary schoolers on Federation Star played with.
"Nope, this is an ingredient."
The freshly made tofu actually carried a light, fresh fragrance, but the camera and sensory array were too far away to pick it up.
Jiang Qiuqiu had the camera drone lower a bit and zoom in for a close-up on the tofu.
A faint fragrance wafted through the stream.
This was a light fragrance completely different from that of vegetables and fruits, and it swiftly captured the hearts of the food purists.
"Tofu is a fairly well-known ingredient from our history. There are many ways to prepare it, and today, we’re going to use it in a soup."
[Can you eat it raw, then?]
In the Federation, there wasn’t really a distinction between raw and cooked food. You ate things however you wanted.
Some people thought the tofu looked fragrant and pretty, almost sweet, as if you could eat it as is.
"You can indeed eat tofu plain, but freshly made tofu doesn’t have much flavor on its own. It would be a bit bland if you ate it that way."
As soon as they heard it could be eaten plain, the viewers immediately asked Jiang Qiuqiu if she could release a small portion for them to try.
Normally, that wouldn’t have been possible, but she had prepared some extra tofu today. Unable to refuse her fans, Jiang Qiuqiu portioned some pure white tofu into five bowls as she was cutting it.
’Just plain white isn’t very appetizing.’ Jiang Qiuqiu thought for a moment, then drizzled two spoonfuls of bright red chili oil on top.
The firm tofu wasn’t perfectly smooth, allowing the red oil to seep into its pores. It looked absolutely delicious.