Perhaps, no place in Thang Long in the past and Hanoi today has such a beautiful land name as this place. After Mo, then Mai, from Hoang Mai, Bach Mai, Thanh Mai, Hong Mai, Tuong Mai, Tan Mai, Mai Dong, then Ke Mo (referring to a geographical area) and Lang Mo (meaning Hoang Mai village).
In Mo village, specializing in cooking wine and tofu, it is called Mo Ruou, to distinguish it from Mo Xoi specializing in cooking sticky rice in Tuong Mai. But now, only Mo tofu is remembered in the mortal world, even though it has gone through historical ups and downs. And perhaps, it will exist for a long time because of the tofu dipped in onion, also known as tofu with scallions.
Amber beans used for frying are the most wonderful. The beans are plump, both porous, light, and very soft and smooth, you can immediately know when you bite them. Fried amber beans eaten with vermicelli dipped in shrimp paste or amber beans marinated with onions have fascinated everyone's taste.
Many of my brothers, friends, and colleagues, when they enjoy Mo beans, have to "take off their hats and bow their heads", because they cannot find that delicious taste in beans made in other places. Even Ho Chi Minh City, where there is a culture of making beans and eating beans in the culinary style of the Chinese, also shakes their heads when intending to make this dish with the beans in it.
Perhaps, Mo beans are made from a unique soybean, in a unique style, so they create such delicious bean covers! Mo beans are ivory white, the bean peel is smooth, slightly rough on the touch, cut into rectangles, about 3 fingers long, never large blocks like "to bo" beans.
To make pickled green beans with onions, the best thing is to choose a batch of beans that have just been baked, still hot and warm, and when you pick up the bean cover, you can see them sticky. That bean can be eaten immediately or proofed in hot water to eat if you are afraid of hygiene issues. However, you must fry it to see the top-notch quality of Mo beans.
Before frying, you should blanch the tofu in boiling water and drain it to help the texture of the tofu be more chewy, not to be mushy during frying. Many places often fry tofu with vegetable oil, but it must be with pork fat to be considered gourmet. Put a pan on the stove, heat the pan until it is hot, then add a lot of liquid fat, wait for the fat to boil until it is hot, then drop the tofu skin into the pan of fat and listen for a sizzling sound.
Immediately reduce the heat, let the tofu float in the hot fat, gradually transforming from white to golden brown, from thin tofu sheets to flabby pieces of tofu as if inflated. In the meantime, immediately switch to preparing the extremely important fermented shallots.
Pour half a bowl of boiling water into a bowl, then dissolve a small spoonful of sugar and one spoonful of MSG. When these two things are completely dissolved, slowly pour in the fish sauce core, while pouring, stir well, and taste until you feel the taste is just right. Then, chop the small scallions and put them in the fish sauce bowl. Do not use scallions as big as straws, because those scallions are large and fragrant and tasteless.
According to the experience of fried tofu sellers at Mo market, who are still operating in the basement of Mo market commercial center, when they see tofu near, they brew a big fire to suck out some fat from the tofu skin. Only then will the tofu skin be puffed up and crispy. At that time, immediately take a piece of tofu out of the pan and "bain" it deep in the bowl of fish sauce with onions, then put it on the plate immediately.
This movement must be done very quickly, not letting the tofu pieces lie in the scallion fish sauce for too long, causing the tofu to lose heat, the puffiness to decrease, and the crispness to disappear. This is what is called "tofu with scallions" instead of "soaking" thoroughly. In fact, the standard way to call "tofu with scallions" is just better than "tofu with scallions".
Doing so, the beans will be golden, hot, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, covered with green onions that are still fresh green. It's not possible like now, people just take the beans out of the pan onto a plate, then sprinkle scallions on the beans and pour in fish sauce. It's just because of laziness and convenience.
Eating a piece of Mo tofu like the Kẻ Mơ people is truly delicious. It is hot and emits smoke when chewing, overshadowed by a mild saltiness and the smell of green onions in the sweet and refreshing taste of tofu, and still crispy. After that life-changing chewing, what could be more enjoyable than a large sip of cool Hanoi draft beer!
To make pickled beans with onions, the best thing is to choose a batch of beans that have just been baked, still hot and warm, and when you pick up the bean cover, you can see them sticky.
