Cycling on through the rice paddies, we came across an amazing old lady.
We wondered what she was doing in a pile of wood in the midst of a grove of banana trees.
As we watched, she attacked the branches with a saw.
And after that demonstration, a triumphant, delightful smile.
And before we left her, I couldn’t help taking a quick photo of her feet… never have they seen a shoe. The souls of her feet must be as ‘tough as old boots’… no need for shoes!
A little further on we stopped at a family tofu making enterprise. As you may know, Tofu is made from Soya beans.
The beans were raked and dried on large cloth mats in the sun.
Here, soya beans are being tossed and separated prior to heating and fermenting.
The beans are poured into the shute of a grinding machine and mixed with water.
What comes out from the bottom is a milky ‘slurry’.
There seemed to be vats everywhere… some with the soya ‘slurry’ fermenting.
Every vat had a purpose in the ‘production line’.
Once ‘cooked’, the mixture was drained through a cloth inside a large wire sieve.
Some of the tofu mixture was poured into large, flat dishes to mature.
Another mixture was placed into shallow split bamboo trays lined with a porous cloth. Excess water is drained away to leave a fine tofu. When ready it’s cut into squares…
…and fried…
…in a large wok over a rice husk fire in a mud stove.
And, this wonderful tofu was produced with the simplest of utensils and equipment in hot steamy conditions. It proves that sterile, air-conditioned facilities are not needed to produce a delicious and safe product.
It had been even hotter in the tofu kitchen than outside in the already steamy, hot tropical heat where we found the animals being fed the left over soya plants. Nothing is wasted.
The goats, in particular, seemed to enjoy this feast.
It was time to get back onto our bikes to peddle on down the road to see what else we would come across in the countryside in Central Java.
More of that anon.
David
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