For the vast majority of people in Shouxian County, tofu is their darling, the food they're most used to and also love the most.
If Wang Fan's tofu is the flavor they're familiar with, then frying it in lard truly takes that tofu fragrance to another level.
Normally, when things are deep-fried, people don't use particularly good oil. If the oil is too good, the price goes up. It's just a snack—who's willing to spend extra money on that?
Rendered lard isn't exactly cheap either, but compared to the oil most households buy, it's actually about the same, maybe even a bit cheaper. Using high-purity back fat plus good technique, you can almost achieve a 1:1 rendering ratio.
Wang Fan buys in bulk, usually at about 6 yuan per jin. Ten jin of lard is only 60 yuan. A 6-liter bucket of peanut oil is about 11 jin, so the price difference is really negligible. On top of that, you can render out a lot of cracklings, which are perfect for stir-fries, eating with Steamed Bun, or dumplings.
