Soy beans, amongst the most important foodstuffs in the world, have been an
important crop in China since ancient times. K.C. Chang in his book Food in
Chinese Culture, a work of substance, but already a bit dated (1977), claims:
“Soybeans are considered to have been first cultivated in China. However, their
history can not be traced farther back than the western Chou period (Chou
Dynasty, 12th Century B.C.-221 B.C.), on the bases of Palaeography and the first
archaeological evidence date only from the Spring-Autumn period (about 500
B.C.).”
The
Glycine max also called the Glycine Soya family Leguminosae (sub family
Fabaceae) the wonder bean.
My recently acquired C.D. Rom Encyclopaedia Britannica writes: “The origins of
the soybean plant Glycine max are obscure, but many botanists believe it to have
derived from Glycine ussuriensis, a legume native to central China. The soy bean
has been used in China for 5000 years as a food and a component of medicines.”
For those who are always searching for healthier and healthier foods, you can
not possibly go wrong with soy beans. They contain more (vegetable) protein than
meat or any other vegetable and hardly no carbohydrates. It is rich in
phosphorus, it contains vegetable fat (good for you), iron, more potassium than
any other food except brewer’s yeast, vitamin A, C, a laundry list of Vitamins B
and Vitamin K. “So”, you wonder, “why don’t we all have soy bean ragout for
breakfast, lunch and dinner?” The catch? Plain unprocessed soy beans are boring
to eat and even the most dedicated health food crusader soon tires of it.
Soy beans can be made into several products which are more interesting and
consequently popular foods. First of all there is soy bean milk, of which one
source says that it is an excellent substitute for dairy milk. It contains less
fat than full cream milk and no cholesterol while it contains iron, thiamine,
riboflavin and niacin which are vitamins in the B group. Unfortunately it is a
let-down on calcium as compared with cow’s milk. Soy bean milk seems to be an
acquired taste.
Bean curd, called Tofu, Tahu, Tahoo etc. depending on where you are in Asia, is
an important ingredient in many dishes and a favourite of the devotees of the
vege-tarian principle. The soft Tofu, which the Japanese like so much, is white
and quite tasteless, but has a lovely texture like a delicate custard. It is
cubed and used in soups and other dishes, but as the water content is too high,
it is not suitable for frying.
Chinese Tahu tends to be more firm while it has a distinct flavour. It is
usually sold in square cakes. There is much variety in quality, texture and
taste. Tahu can be fried in deep fat and used in many dishes. It may be mashed,
mixed with eggs, crab meat, spring onions or leeks and made into a thick
omelette called Fu Yong Hai in Indonesia and Crab Fu Yong by the Americans. It
may also be incorporated into meatballs. The skin on top of the Tahu when it is
made and still liquid, locally called “Fong Tahu”, is dried and also used in
cooking, as a wrap for instance. Many years ago when I first tried my hand at
Chinese food I often made “Chicken wrapped in paper” as the “piece the
resistance”. To make it pliable it should be soaked in water for some time.
“Tempeh” is a product made of soy beans which is, as far as I know, only made in
Indonesia. This is unfortunate because not only is it very healthy, it has a
distinct flavour which is for some - I have to admit - an acquired taste. Others
love it from the first bite. “Tempeh” is made by cooking dried soy beans until
they are just done but still “al dente” as the Italians say. The beans are then
dried in the sun for a few hours so that they are still a little moist. Spread
out on banana leaves in a thick layer - these days often plastic - it is
sprinkled with a mould culture called Rhizopus oligosporous or Rhizopus Oryzae.
The banana leaves are loosely folded over to make a flat package of beans and
left alone for a day or two. The mould will spread through the beans and form it
into a cake which is warm to the touch when fresh. The cakes are sliced into
pieces and sold in the markets. Cut in smaller pieces it may be fried, mixed
with spices to make a “Sambal” or a spicy savoury dish served with rice. Rubbed
with tamarind juice and fried in bigger pieces, it is also served with rice, and
cut into cubes it is cooked in “Sayur Lodeh” (vegetable soup with coconut milk
and spices).
Many years ago on a visit to Jakarta I asked my taxi driver where I could find a
“Tempeh” factory, so I could observe the process of making it. He told me that
his father used to have such a plant. He also told me that when making “Tempeh”,
the fungus will not develop if there is somebody in the house who lives a life
of carnal sin and that, he said, was the reason that he was evicted from his
home at the tender age of eighteen. Since he was at the time of our conversation
in his middle ages, I assumed that he had settled down since the incident. By
courtesy of a kind Indonesian gentleman, I obtained some of the mould once. It
came in two kinds, one was made artificially in a laboratory and the other was
the natural mould out of the forest. I hate to tell you this but my effort to
make “Tempeh” wasn’t very successful either. The fungus spread but it never
became the real cake I had envisaged. I blamed it on my inexperience, not being
aware yet of the importance of chaste living.
Another important product made from soy beans is of course soy sauce but I would
like to discuss this in a future article as I am running out of space. One other
product with which almost everybody is familiar with these days is bean sprouts
which are easy to make by spreading mung beans on a wet gunny sack in a dark
place. Bean sprouts can also be made from soy beans but they are coarser and I
prefer the former.
Computer Illiterate
So you think you’re computer-illiterate? Check out the following excerpts from a
Wall Street Journal article by Jim Carlton:
1. Compaq is considering changing the command “Press Any Key” to “Press Return
Key” because of the flood of calls asking where the “Any” key is.
2. Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the
system wouldn’t read word processing files from his old diskettes. After
trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it was
found that the customer labelled the diskettes then rolled them into the
typewriter to type the labels.
3. A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in the
drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and was heard
putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to close the door to
his room.
4. Another Dell customer called to say he couldn’t get his computer to fax
anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the
man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor
screen and hitting the “send” key.
5. Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer
worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and soaking
the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing them
indi-vidually.
