I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 268 A Very Necessary Thing

Bai Ling stood up, and once the soy milk in the pot boiled, he poured the remaining soy milk from the wooden bucket into the pot.

This step is to prevent the soy milk from overflowing due to boiling. As soon as the soy milk in the wooden bucket was poured into the pot, the boiling soy milk stopped. Bai Ling stirred it a few times with a wooden spoon, and the white foam on the soy milk disappeared.

The fire in the pot had died down, and the soy milk was slowly brought to a boil, no longer bubbling violently. Bai Ling used a wooden spoon to scoop the soy milk into a ceramic bowl and then waited patiently.

After waiting for about two minutes, the soy milk was still slowly emitting steam. A skin had formed on the surface of the soy milk. Bai Ling used a wooden stick to pick up this skin from the surface of the soy milk. This skin, once dried, would become soy skin.

Next comes the crucial step of adding the braising liquid.

As the saying goes, brine is used to coagulate tofu. One thing subdues another. To turn soy milk into tofu, the step of coagulating with brine is indispensable and the most crucial step in making tofu.

Bai Ling diluted the freshly harvested brine in advance. He held the earthenware bowl containing the brine in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. He slowly tilted the earthenware bowl, and a little bit of brine poured from the bowl into the earthenware basin. Bai Ling used the wooden spoon to slowly stir the soy milk, allowing the brine to completely dissolve in the soy milk.

Several orcs gathered around Bai Ling, all staring wide-eyed at the earthenware pot, eager to see what would happen to the pot of white soy milk.

As time passed, white, thread-like substances began to float in the soy milk. As time went on, the number of these substances increased, eventually forming clumps.

The soy milk seemed to have solidified; it was no longer water, but had turned into snowflake-like substances.

Bai Ling put away the ceramic bowl, and the wooden spoon he was stirring also stopped. He pressed the wooden spoon against the soy milk, but it seemed to be held up by something and could not be pushed down any further.

Bai Ling put away the wooden spoon and said, "We'll have to wait a little longer before the tofu is ready."

Both Yue and Zhonghe, the two sky beastmen, were very surprised. They couldn't understand why the soy milk, which was clearly water, had turned into something like snow. What kind of magic was this?

Faced with everyone's questions, Bai Ling smiled and said, "Yes, making tofu is indeed magic, a kind of magic that makes tofu taste delicious."

*

A sky orc asked, "Ling, how should tofu be eaten? Should it be boiled, steamed, stir-fried, stewed, fried, or pan-fried?"

In the past, orcs only cooked by boiling and roasting. Later, Bai Ling led the orcs to unlock more ways to eat food. With the help of iron pots, there were even more ways to cook food, such as frying, stir-frying, boiling, steaming, and stewing. Every food had countless ways to be eaten.

Bai Ling laughed and said, "There are many ways to eat tofu. All of the things you mentioned are possible. Tofu can also be mixed with scallions in a cold salad, or eaten as is. It can also be used as filling for buns and dumplings. In short, there are many ways to eat tofu. There's nothing you can't do if you can think of it."

Tofu is arguably the most versatile food; besides being used as a staple food, it's practically a one-stop shop.

Bai Ling said to the Sky Beastmen, "Go catch a fish, and I'll make you fish stew with tofu."

The two sky orcs agreed together, with one saying, "I'll go too. I'm good at catching fish, I'll definitely catch two big ones."

*

The soy milk had already solidified; all that remained was to press it. Bai Ling placed the square she had made with bamboo strips in advance on the ceramic basin, laid the cleaned silk inside the bamboo square, and then poured in the solidified soy milk.

There was still a lot of water in the soy milk. As soon as it was poured in, the water flowed out from the silk. Bai Ling folded the four corners of the silk over the tofu, and then slowly pressed a wooden board onto the silk filled with tofu.

The wooden board fits perfectly into the square made of bamboo strips. He slowly pressed down with his palm, and the water in the tofu flowed out from the gaps in the bamboo strips.

Once the pressure had reached a certain level, Bai Ling stopped. He placed a clean stone on the wooden board and said to Yue, "Yue, the tofu will be ready in a little while."

"I made soft tofu. Making dried tofu is a bit more complicated. I'll make it for you when I get back and have time." Bai Ling counted the ingredients on her fingers for Yue, "There's also bean curd sheets, dried tofu, shredded tofu, tofu pudding, and so on. I'll make them all for you in the future."

If someone else had said this to Yue, Yue might have said, "No need to trouble yourself," but since Ling said this to him, Yue smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll wait. You have to make all of these for me. Oh, right, and you also have to make fried tofu, stewed tofu, stir-fried tofu, steamed tofu, cold tofu salad, and boiled tofu."

Yue can make all sorts of demands on Ling with a clear conscience, just as Ling can make all sorts of demands on him. They are going to spend their lives together, and they are the two people with the closest relationship in the world. It is perfectly reasonable for them to make their own demands on each other.

*

The three orcs who went out fishing have returned, and Bai Ling's tofu is ready.

The two Sky Orcs cleaned and gutted the fish they had caught outside. Bai Ling took the fish and weighed them in the water. These three fish weighed more than 20 jin (10 kg). With tofu and cornbread, it would be enough for them to have a good meal.

Cassava cakes spoil easily in the summer, so Bai Ling brought cornbread with her when she went out.

The cornbread was made from soybean flour, sorghum flour, and wheat flour. Even in this weather, it could last for three or four days without any problem. Before leaving, Feng made several batches of cornbread and filled two baskets for Bai Ling.

Throughout the journey, everyone ate cornbread as their staple food. Today, they were going to eat fish stew with tofu, so cornbread would naturally be their staple food as well.

Bai Ling washed the cleaned fish with clean water, then chopped it into three pieces: the head, the belly, and the tail. This way, the freshness of the fish meat would be more easily brought out during stewing, and the tofu would also taste better.

Heat an iron wok and add animal fat. Once the oil is hot, add spices, scallions, and ginger to sauté until fragrant. Then, add the chopped fish and stir-fry.

After stir-frying the fish, Bai Ling adds two spoonfuls of sauce, partly to enhance the flavor and partly to color the fish. Then, Bai Ling adds water to the pot, covers it, and it's ready to stew.

Once the water in the pot boils, add the tofu cut into cubes and continue simmering.

The key to making this dish lies in controlling the heat. It must be stewed over high heat for a long enough time, preferably in a wood-fired pot.

Bai Ling added two more pieces of firewood to the fire pit and said, "The fish and tofu will take a little longer to cook. Shall we make a cold dish?"

Orcs don't really like eating vegetables, but whenever Bai Ling cooks, he always makes some vegetables. They picked some wild vegetables yesterday, but didn't have time to eat them this morning, so there are still some left.