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浙江台州西北山区有一种美食叫观音冻，天台、仙居、三门等地山民皆擅长料理此物。这次天台的陈舟宝先生携妻女来椒江，特地为我示范制作了观音冻。因有缘亲历天台人陈舟宝夫妇美食制作的全过程并第一时间品尝到它的美味，所以观音冻虽不是天台一地独有，我也姑且称之为天台观音冻。
一
观音冻又叫观音豆腐。虽然傍上了豆腐的芳名，但里面却没有豆的成分，甚至也没有任何其他粮食的成分。
观音豆腐的形状、弹性、柔滑感和真正的豆腐类似，色泽却颇似翡翠，所以又叫翡翠豆腐。它是用山上一种叫柴叶的植物做成的，所以也叫柴叶豆腐或柴豆腐。这种柴叶，山里人又称之为豆腐柴。
豆腐柴是一种直立灌木，马鞭草科，入冬后叶落而枯，如柴。做观音冻用的是豆腐柴叶，因此如入深秋柴叶落尽，就做不成。陈夫人告诉我，豆腐柴的叶子是一味中药，药名腐婢，有清热解毒之功效，用于治疗疟疾、泄泻、痈肿、疔疮、丹毒，还能解蛇虫咬伤、醉酒头痛等各种不适。
陈夫人虽已年过半百，但着一袭深色长裙，姿态娉婷，应该是养生有道，难道是常吃观音冻的缘故？
她手拿着一个纱布口袋，把洗净的豆腐柴嫩叶往里装。纱布袋已经被柴叶汁液无数次浸染，泛着无法褪去的草黄色——这是她从天台带来的专用道具。
豆腐柴叶含有大量蛋白质、纤维素、叶绿素和维生素，其蛋白质中氨基酸含量高，富含对人体有益的天然食用果胶，所以做成的美食形似天然的果冻。每年春夏，豆腐柴枝叶茂盛的时候，天台山上的山民们就会采叶制作观音冻，做好的观音冻自己吃一部分，留一部分分赠城里的亲友。
我是见过这种植物的，小时候在山上玩，见到都叫它“臭娘子”，不知道它还有个名字叫豆腐柴。豆腐柴漫生于山野和田间地角，也常见于山里人家的屋前屋后，五六月份会开出塔形、淡黄色的花，偶见黑色的小果。长得高的豆腐柴有一人高，茎枝纤细，圆柱形，呈淡棕色，嫩枝上披有一层柔软的黄色短毛;叶是长卵形，边缘有锯齿。摸上去和普通树叶无异，可是当你用手指一掐，就会有黏汁渗出，散发出一股浓浓的青草味。那气味有人说臭，也有人说这是自然的清香，我姑妈说它有一种草药的芳香。正是因为有这股味，豆腐柴虽然柔软多汁、营养丰富，但食草类动物一般不喜欢去吃它。
二
传说很久之前，华夏大地闹起了大饥荒，路有饿殍，天台山也未能幸免。有一天，一位大婶好不容易讨到一块饼，就紧赶慢赶地回家，想留给家中的小儿子。途中，大婶遇到了一位饿得奄奄一息的老人，她不忍心眼看着老人饿死，就忍痛把这块饼递给了他。老人吃过饼后，就能站起来蹒跚走路了。他跟着大婶来到她家，却看到一位饿得连哭声都快没了的孩子。老人大为感动，指点大婶说，这山里有一种连牛羊都不吃的臭柴叶，你去摘一些过来，我做点东西给你家孩子吃。大婶将信将疑地去摘回了老人所说的臭柴叶。老人要了一个盆子，拿了这些柴叶，一边做一边如此这般地开始讲解，不到半晌的功夫，竟变戏法一样做出一大盆闪着翡翠般光泽的胶冻，又像是一盆刚刚点卤成型的绿色豆腐。老人把这盆胶冻切成块，递给大婶和她的孩子。没想到，这胶冻状的豆腐不但鲜嫩滑口，吃起来满嘴生香，几块落肚后，人也一下子變得神清气爽。正当娘儿俩激动得想说感谢话时，眼前的老人已变成慈眉善目的菩萨，驾着祥云远去了。
大婶把制作这种食物的方法教给了周边的乡亲，乡亲们又兴奋地奔走相告，山上山下的百姓就靠着这柴叶豆腐度过了饥荒。观音冻或观音豆腐的名称，便由此而来。
三
做观音冻需要豆腐柴叶、干燥豆秆和凉白开3种材料。制作流程可分为6个步骤：第一步，将豆腐柴嫩叶洗净备用。用活水冲洗两遍即可，洗得过多过久，会使叶中的果胶成分流失。第二步，把沥过水的柴叶置于盆中，用沸水冲淋均匀，使之瘪软，再冷却10分钟。第三步，取一口干净的锅，把干燥的豆秆在锅内烧成灰，倒入少量凉白开搅拌，并用纱布袋子沥去杂物，取豆秆灰水备用。第四步，另取一盆，倒入适量凉白开，将沸水烫瘪后的柴叶装入纱布口袋，放入这盆凉白开中使劲揉搓，柴叶中的绿色汁液逐渐从沙布眼中渗出，在水中弥漫开来，瞬间，一盆凉白开就成了一汪深潭的颜色。继续揉搓至盆中水色不再加深、汁液出现浓稠的感觉后，将柴叶汁倒入另一个盆中。这边再次倒入凉白开，继续揉搓。如此往复3次，就可以将柴叶里的大部分果胶析出。第五步，将3次揉搓的柴叶汁水合成一盆，一边搅拌一边慢慢倒入豆秆灰水。豆秆灰水在这里是起着凝固剂的作用，就如同卤水点豆腐。随着豆秆灰水的倒入、搅动，盆中的柴叶汁以肉眼可见的速度变浓变稠。第六步，搅拌均匀后静置5分钟左右，用筷子轻轻刮去汁液表层的细小泡沫。再静候一两个小时，一盆碧绿的、晶莹剔透的果冻，就大功告成了。
值得一提的是，观音冻也能根据个人喜好，可做老一点亦可做嫩一些，全凭柴叶汁液的浓度和倒入豆秆灰水的量。静置的时间越长，做出来的观音冻就更紧实，若能放在冰箱里冷藏一会，更加Q弹。
四
时间将近中午，阳光从窗台上漏进来，照在装着观音冻的盆里。盆沿上闪烁着氤氲的绿莹莹的仙气，仿佛盆中有一宝物将要生成。
我仔细一看，盆中之物简直就是一大块未经打磨的圆形翡翠原石：墨绿色，通体晶莹却又似乎刻意收敛着神光，仿佛有一种绿色的宝玉蕴于其内，深藏不露。我用筷子轻轻点了一下，冻的表皮凹进去一点，又马上弹回，恢复成原先的样子;我又用筷子点了几下，像风吹过的湖面，泛起一阵涟漪之后，又复归平静。
陈夫人说，筷子轻戳不破，就表明它已经脱胎成冻，可以吃了。她拿刀轻轻一划，像切豆腐一样把做好的观音冻切成几个等分，取中间一块四方形的放入白色汤盘中。此时的这块观音冻，才展现出它的庐山真面目。
它静默地立在盘中，四个切面光滑平整，仿佛是一块浑然天成的老玉，透着一股洞悉世事的孤傲神色。四面的光射进来，观音冻里隐约闪动着一些类似矿物微晶的东西。我不知道它们是什么，但我不在意，因为我已经被它如璞如玉的美艳震惊了。不得不再说到它的绿，因为通体暴露在光影之中，这一块绿似乎被光稀释了，好像有一股绿色的泉水在其中流动，有的地方深一些，有的地方浅一些。 我們把它划成任意形状的小块，洁白的盆子里就铺满了诱人的绿玉碎珠。拿起瓷勺，把这些琳琅的珠玉一粒一粒拨入瓷碗中，再加一点点蜂蜜，撒上点桂花，就显得特别美丽和精致。这时候我牙根里的津液盈出，当这些温润的、弹动的软珠子滑入口腔，抚慰着上颚和舌头，感觉是何等的舒爽和惬意。
夏日里品味观音冻，如再加点薄荷水则更佳。一勺入口，一串极富动感的Q弹涌向舌尖，仿佛一群快乐的精灵在你的口腔里推推攘攘着，争先恐后地通过喉咙跃入食道进入腹中。一时间，整个人似乎置身于大山深处的清凉幽谷，心旷神怡。
当然，你也完全可以把它当豆腐食用，或煎或炒，或红烧或炖汤，又是一番农家味道。酷爱豆腐的大才子袁枚应该没吃过这种柴叶做的豆腐，不然的话《随园食单》里应该少不了得会记上“天台柴豆腐”或者是“天台观音豆腐”一笔。
Guanyin Tofu in Tiantai
By Qian Tianzhu
In the northwestern mountains of Taizhou in Zhejiang， Guanyin Tofu is a favorite delicacy in the local cuisine. It’s popular in Taizhou and neighboring regions. I recently enjoyed watching a friend demonstrate how to make this dish from start to end.
Some people call it Guanyin Jelly and some call it Guanyin Tofu， though it has nothing to do with soybeans or any other cereals in it. It looks like tofu after it’s made. It is made of a herb which local people call the tofu herb. The herb is academically known as Premna microphylla Turcz （PMT）， mainly distributed in east， central and southwest China. The roots， stems and leaves of PMT can be used as medicine for the functions of clearing away heat and detoxification， detumescence， snake bite， nameless swelling， wound bleeding， and so on. The tofu herb abounds in mountains in this part of Taizhou.
The leaves of PMT are rich in pectin， kind of a jelly substance that can be extracted from the leaves. Local people use a six-step procedure to get the pectin out of the leaves and turn the liquid into jelly-like， firm， dark green substance that can be cut into chops. No one knows exactly how someone first discovered a way to extract pectin out of PMT leaves. The procedure works this way： leaves are washed and placed into a big basin. Pour boiled water into the basin until leaves become soft as if withered. Remove hot water and let leaves cool for ten minutes. Put leaves into a gauze bag. Put the bag into a basin of water boiled and cooled. Rub and knead the leaves in the bag. Pectin comes out. When the water becomes dark green， pour the dark green water into another vessel and pour pure water boiled and cooled into the basin again. The step is repeated two more times until you have three basins of dark green water in which is liquid pectin. Then drop a coagulator extracted out of soybean stems into the water and stir the water evenly. The liquid becomes thicker. Let the liquid cure for five minutes. Skip the foams on the surface with a chopstick. Let the liquid cure for two hours. The jelly-like emerald tofu is ready. It was an amazing experience for me to watch how pectin in the PMT leaves was extracted and turned into so-called tofu in the hands of my friend. The whole thing， not yet cut into chops， looked like a large chunk of gem in the color of dark green.
A local folktale explains how someone first learned the way to make the jelly-like tofu. As the folktale has it， once upon a time， the region was being plagued by a famine. A woman went out in search of food. She left a hungry son at home. After a long journey and hard search， she got a cake. On her way back home， she ran into an old man lying by the road， looking as if he would die of hunger any moment. After some hesitation， she fed the cake to the old man. The old man recovered. After learning that the woman had a starving boy at home， he followed the woman to her home. There he demonstrated how to make tofu out of PMT leaves and taught the woman how to do it step by step. After the woman mastered the procedure and the mother and son enjoyed the delicacy， the old man transformed into Buddha and disappeared into the sky， leaving no time for the mother and son to say thank you. The woman shared the recipe with her neighbors and the miracle method spread. The people in the region survived the famine. Just like so many folktales， this one says you lead an honest life and treat people kindly and you respect nature for food and express gratitude to deities for ways to survive.
Of course all kinds of tofu recipes can be used in cooking Guanyin Tofu. It can be fried in oil. It can be cooked in soy sauce or it can be an ingredient in a soup. In summer， the jelly-like tofu can stay in a refrigerator before it can be served in peppermint water and enjoyed.
一
观音冻又叫观音豆腐。虽然傍上了豆腐的芳名，但里面却没有豆的成分，甚至也没有任何其他粮食的成分。
观音豆腐的形状、弹性、柔滑感和真正的豆腐类似，色泽却颇似翡翠，所以又叫翡翠豆腐。它是用山上一种叫柴叶的植物做成的，所以也叫柴叶豆腐或柴豆腐。这种柴叶，山里人又称之为豆腐柴。
豆腐柴是一种直立灌木，马鞭草科，入冬后叶落而枯，如柴。做观音冻用的是豆腐柴叶，因此如入深秋柴叶落尽，就做不成。陈夫人告诉我，豆腐柴的叶子是一味中药，药名腐婢，有清热解毒之功效，用于治疗疟疾、泄泻、痈肿、疔疮、丹毒，还能解蛇虫咬伤、醉酒头痛等各种不适。
陈夫人虽已年过半百，但着一袭深色长裙，姿态娉婷，应该是养生有道，难道是常吃观音冻的缘故？
她手拿着一个纱布口袋，把洗净的豆腐柴嫩叶往里装。纱布袋已经被柴叶汁液无数次浸染，泛着无法褪去的草黄色——这是她从天台带来的专用道具。
豆腐柴叶含有大量蛋白质、纤维素、叶绿素和维生素，其蛋白质中氨基酸含量高，富含对人体有益的天然食用果胶，所以做成的美食形似天然的果冻。每年春夏，豆腐柴枝叶茂盛的时候，天台山上的山民们就会采叶制作观音冻，做好的观音冻自己吃一部分，留一部分分赠城里的亲友。
我是见过这种植物的，小时候在山上玩，见到都叫它“臭娘子”，不知道它还有个名字叫豆腐柴。豆腐柴漫生于山野和田间地角，也常见于山里人家的屋前屋后，五六月份会开出塔形、淡黄色的花，偶见黑色的小果。长得高的豆腐柴有一人高，茎枝纤细，圆柱形，呈淡棕色，嫩枝上披有一层柔软的黄色短毛;叶是长卵形，边缘有锯齿。摸上去和普通树叶无异，可是当你用手指一掐，就会有黏汁渗出，散发出一股浓浓的青草味。那气味有人说臭，也有人说这是自然的清香，我姑妈说它有一种草药的芳香。正是因为有这股味，豆腐柴虽然柔软多汁、营养丰富，但食草类动物一般不喜欢去吃它。
二
传说很久之前，华夏大地闹起了大饥荒，路有饿殍，天台山也未能幸免。有一天，一位大婶好不容易讨到一块饼，就紧赶慢赶地回家，想留给家中的小儿子。途中，大婶遇到了一位饿得奄奄一息的老人，她不忍心眼看着老人饿死，就忍痛把这块饼递给了他。老人吃过饼后，就能站起来蹒跚走路了。他跟着大婶来到她家，却看到一位饿得连哭声都快没了的孩子。老人大为感动，指点大婶说，这山里有一种连牛羊都不吃的臭柴叶，你去摘一些过来，我做点东西给你家孩子吃。大婶将信将疑地去摘回了老人所说的臭柴叶。老人要了一个盆子，拿了这些柴叶，一边做一边如此这般地开始讲解，不到半晌的功夫，竟变戏法一样做出一大盆闪着翡翠般光泽的胶冻，又像是一盆刚刚点卤成型的绿色豆腐。老人把这盆胶冻切成块，递给大婶和她的孩子。没想到，这胶冻状的豆腐不但鲜嫩滑口，吃起来满嘴生香，几块落肚后，人也一下子變得神清气爽。正当娘儿俩激动得想说感谢话时，眼前的老人已变成慈眉善目的菩萨，驾着祥云远去了。
大婶把制作这种食物的方法教给了周边的乡亲，乡亲们又兴奋地奔走相告，山上山下的百姓就靠着这柴叶豆腐度过了饥荒。观音冻或观音豆腐的名称，便由此而来。
三
做观音冻需要豆腐柴叶、干燥豆秆和凉白开3种材料。制作流程可分为6个步骤：第一步，将豆腐柴嫩叶洗净备用。用活水冲洗两遍即可，洗得过多过久，会使叶中的果胶成分流失。第二步，把沥过水的柴叶置于盆中，用沸水冲淋均匀，使之瘪软，再冷却10分钟。第三步，取一口干净的锅，把干燥的豆秆在锅内烧成灰，倒入少量凉白开搅拌，并用纱布袋子沥去杂物，取豆秆灰水备用。第四步，另取一盆，倒入适量凉白开，将沸水烫瘪后的柴叶装入纱布口袋，放入这盆凉白开中使劲揉搓，柴叶中的绿色汁液逐渐从沙布眼中渗出，在水中弥漫开来，瞬间，一盆凉白开就成了一汪深潭的颜色。继续揉搓至盆中水色不再加深、汁液出现浓稠的感觉后，将柴叶汁倒入另一个盆中。这边再次倒入凉白开，继续揉搓。如此往复3次，就可以将柴叶里的大部分果胶析出。第五步，将3次揉搓的柴叶汁水合成一盆，一边搅拌一边慢慢倒入豆秆灰水。豆秆灰水在这里是起着凝固剂的作用，就如同卤水点豆腐。随着豆秆灰水的倒入、搅动，盆中的柴叶汁以肉眼可见的速度变浓变稠。第六步，搅拌均匀后静置5分钟左右，用筷子轻轻刮去汁液表层的细小泡沫。再静候一两个小时，一盆碧绿的、晶莹剔透的果冻，就大功告成了。
值得一提的是，观音冻也能根据个人喜好，可做老一点亦可做嫩一些，全凭柴叶汁液的浓度和倒入豆秆灰水的量。静置的时间越长，做出来的观音冻就更紧实，若能放在冰箱里冷藏一会，更加Q弹。
四
时间将近中午，阳光从窗台上漏进来，照在装着观音冻的盆里。盆沿上闪烁着氤氲的绿莹莹的仙气，仿佛盆中有一宝物将要生成。
我仔细一看，盆中之物简直就是一大块未经打磨的圆形翡翠原石：墨绿色，通体晶莹却又似乎刻意收敛着神光，仿佛有一种绿色的宝玉蕴于其内，深藏不露。我用筷子轻轻点了一下，冻的表皮凹进去一点，又马上弹回，恢复成原先的样子;我又用筷子点了几下，像风吹过的湖面，泛起一阵涟漪之后，又复归平静。
陈夫人说，筷子轻戳不破，就表明它已经脱胎成冻，可以吃了。她拿刀轻轻一划，像切豆腐一样把做好的观音冻切成几个等分，取中间一块四方形的放入白色汤盘中。此时的这块观音冻，才展现出它的庐山真面目。
它静默地立在盘中，四个切面光滑平整，仿佛是一块浑然天成的老玉，透着一股洞悉世事的孤傲神色。四面的光射进来，观音冻里隐约闪动着一些类似矿物微晶的东西。我不知道它们是什么，但我不在意，因为我已经被它如璞如玉的美艳震惊了。不得不再说到它的绿，因为通体暴露在光影之中，这一块绿似乎被光稀释了，好像有一股绿色的泉水在其中流动，有的地方深一些，有的地方浅一些。 我們把它划成任意形状的小块，洁白的盆子里就铺满了诱人的绿玉碎珠。拿起瓷勺，把这些琳琅的珠玉一粒一粒拨入瓷碗中，再加一点点蜂蜜，撒上点桂花，就显得特别美丽和精致。这时候我牙根里的津液盈出，当这些温润的、弹动的软珠子滑入口腔，抚慰着上颚和舌头，感觉是何等的舒爽和惬意。
夏日里品味观音冻，如再加点薄荷水则更佳。一勺入口，一串极富动感的Q弹涌向舌尖，仿佛一群快乐的精灵在你的口腔里推推攘攘着，争先恐后地通过喉咙跃入食道进入腹中。一时间，整个人似乎置身于大山深处的清凉幽谷，心旷神怡。
当然，你也完全可以把它当豆腐食用，或煎或炒，或红烧或炖汤，又是一番农家味道。酷爱豆腐的大才子袁枚应该没吃过这种柴叶做的豆腐，不然的话《随园食单》里应该少不了得会记上“天台柴豆腐”或者是“天台观音豆腐”一笔。
Guanyin Tofu in Tiantai
By Qian Tianzhu
In the northwestern mountains of Taizhou in Zhejiang， Guanyin Tofu is a favorite delicacy in the local cuisine. It’s popular in Taizhou and neighboring regions. I recently enjoyed watching a friend demonstrate how to make this dish from start to end.
Some people call it Guanyin Jelly and some call it Guanyin Tofu， though it has nothing to do with soybeans or any other cereals in it. It looks like tofu after it’s made. It is made of a herb which local people call the tofu herb. The herb is academically known as Premna microphylla Turcz （PMT）， mainly distributed in east， central and southwest China. The roots， stems and leaves of PMT can be used as medicine for the functions of clearing away heat and detoxification， detumescence， snake bite， nameless swelling， wound bleeding， and so on. The tofu herb abounds in mountains in this part of Taizhou.
The leaves of PMT are rich in pectin， kind of a jelly substance that can be extracted from the leaves. Local people use a six-step procedure to get the pectin out of the leaves and turn the liquid into jelly-like， firm， dark green substance that can be cut into chops. No one knows exactly how someone first discovered a way to extract pectin out of PMT leaves. The procedure works this way： leaves are washed and placed into a big basin. Pour boiled water into the basin until leaves become soft as if withered. Remove hot water and let leaves cool for ten minutes. Put leaves into a gauze bag. Put the bag into a basin of water boiled and cooled. Rub and knead the leaves in the bag. Pectin comes out. When the water becomes dark green， pour the dark green water into another vessel and pour pure water boiled and cooled into the basin again. The step is repeated two more times until you have three basins of dark green water in which is liquid pectin. Then drop a coagulator extracted out of soybean stems into the water and stir the water evenly. The liquid becomes thicker. Let the liquid cure for five minutes. Skip the foams on the surface with a chopstick. Let the liquid cure for two hours. The jelly-like emerald tofu is ready. It was an amazing experience for me to watch how pectin in the PMT leaves was extracted and turned into so-called tofu in the hands of my friend. The whole thing， not yet cut into chops， looked like a large chunk of gem in the color of dark green.
A local folktale explains how someone first learned the way to make the jelly-like tofu. As the folktale has it， once upon a time， the region was being plagued by a famine. A woman went out in search of food. She left a hungry son at home. After a long journey and hard search， she got a cake. On her way back home， she ran into an old man lying by the road， looking as if he would die of hunger any moment. After some hesitation， she fed the cake to the old man. The old man recovered. After learning that the woman had a starving boy at home， he followed the woman to her home. There he demonstrated how to make tofu out of PMT leaves and taught the woman how to do it step by step. After the woman mastered the procedure and the mother and son enjoyed the delicacy， the old man transformed into Buddha and disappeared into the sky， leaving no time for the mother and son to say thank you. The woman shared the recipe with her neighbors and the miracle method spread. The people in the region survived the famine. Just like so many folktales， this one says you lead an honest life and treat people kindly and you respect nature for food and express gratitude to deities for ways to survive.
Of course all kinds of tofu recipes can be used in cooking Guanyin Tofu. It can be fried in oil. It can be cooked in soy sauce or it can be an ingredient in a soup. In summer， the jelly-like tofu can stay in a refrigerator before it can be served in peppermint water and enjoyed.