Wugang Warm Fresh Tofu 舞钢热豆腐
Wugang Warm Fresh Tofu is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
Wugang Warm Fresh Tofu (舞钢热豆腐), also called chilli hot tofu (辣子热豆腐), is freshly pressed bean curd eaten warm with chilli sauce in Wugang (舞钢), a city in Pingdingshan (平顶山), Henan.
How it is made
The Pingdingshan Evening News (平顶山晚报) singles out the setting agent: instead of the usual brine or gypsum, Wugang makers use a fermented liquid called jiangshui (浆水). Bean-curd residue left from grinding is soaked in boiling water in a vat, yeast is added once it cools to thirty or forty degrees Celsius, and the covered vat ferments for seven days. Some of the pale liquid pressed out of each batch goes back into the vat for next time.
The liquor has to be added at a steady rate with constant stirring; a local saying quoted by the paper warns that going too hard leaves no tofu and too slow leaves a pot of liquid. The curds are then pressed in a square wooden frame for about half an hour.
Flavour and texture
The Pingdingshan culture and tourism bureau describes the curd as fine and smooth, dressed with chilli, mashed garlic and Chinese toon (香椿) sauces, and says the dish stands out for its texture, its way of eating and its flavour. The paper calls the chilli dip the soul of the dish: farmers dry their own chillies, often the facing-heaven (朝天椒) variety, grind them into a paste with salt and sesame oil, and serve ten-spice sauce (十香汁), garlic water and sesame paste alongside.
How it is eaten
Wugang Warm Fresh Tofu is breakfast street food. The paper describes one stall in Zhulan (朱兰) serving customers at five in the morning, where the tofu goes out with chilli oil and a hot vegetable-stuffed bun (菜馍). A vendor at the Yinji (尹集) crossroads grinds his beans from four or five a.m., sets up at seven and sells hot and cold tofu side by side, with customers coming from downtown Pingdingshan and Luohe (漯河).
Wugang city departments count close to a thousand tofu workshops across the city, and the curd of Houlu (后鲁村), Kangzhuang (康庄村) and Dalizhuang (大李庄村) villages is especially well known. The bureau also records a local legend that Taoists in the area curdled soy milk by chance with spring water from Tieshan (铁山) while making elixirs.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Jiaxian Tofu Soup with Sweet Potato Noodles 郏县豆腐菜 →
Jiaxian tofu dish is another Pingdingshan bean-curd speciality; the Wugang curd is set with a home-fermented liquor and eaten warm at breakfast stalls.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- Reference photo of a similar dish · 同类菜品参考照片A similar preparation is pictured; the local version may differ. 同类菜品参考照片，当地做法可能不同。Photo: Archon6812 · CC BY-SA 3.0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
