Assorted Tofu Pudding 什锦豆腐涝

Assorted Tofu Pudding (什锦豆腐涝) is Nanjing's (南京) bowl of white bean curd dressed with a spread of savoury toppings. Doufulao is also known as doufunao (豆腐脑) or douhua (豆腐花), and in Nanjing dialect it has the nickname "都不老" (roughly "never growing old"). Chinese Wikipedia lists it among the city's characteristic snacks.

Flavour and texture

The Jiangsu station of the China Weather Network (中国天气网江苏站) says the Nanjing bowl differs from tofu pudding elsewhere in its condiments. More than ten are added, among them dried shrimp, zhacai pickled mustard tuber (榨菜), wood-ear fungus, chopped scallion, chilli oil and sesame oil. The bean curd itself is white as jade and clean-tasting, and the finished bowl is mellow, rich, fragrant and savoury, with balanced salt and moderate heat. Shops also add assorted vegetables (什锦菜), a play on the phrase "前程似锦" (a future as bright as brocade).

Where it comes from

The tofu pudding of Liufengju (六凤居), served with scallion pancakes, is one of the Eight Wonders of Qinhuai (秦淮八绝): eight sets of snacks from seven snack shops around the Confucius Temple (夫子庙). According to CCTV, the Nanjing Qinhuai District snack research society (南京秦淮区风味小吃研究会) gave the eight their name in September 1987 after an expert appraisal, and CCTV counts the Confucius Temple's Qinhuai snacks as one of China's four major snack groups.