Xiping Savoury Tofu Pudding 西平咸豆腐脑

How it is made

The Xiping county government sets out the method in three steps. Soybeans are soaked in warm water, ground on a stone mill and strained through gauze into a fine soy milk; the milk is boiled, vinegar is added, and the curd is set.

Next, Sichuan pepper (花椒) and star anise (大料) are fried in oil until fragrant and lifted out, then dried chillies and chopped spring onion go in, followed by sesame leaves (芝麻叶), which are stir-fried until fragrant. Finally, water is brought to the boil and seasoned, the curd goes in, then the sesame leaves and dried greens, and a flour batter is stirred in until the pot boils again. Each bowl is finished with a little sesame paste and diced celery.

Ingredients

The Zhumadian Daily gives the main ingredients as sesame leaves or dried vegetables and soy milk, with salt, chilli, spring onion, ginger, star anise (大茴), sesame paste, celery and wheat flour as the supporting ingredients.

Flavour and texture

The same paper describes the pieces of curd as neither large nor small and neither too tender nor too firm, and the seasoning as balanced, neither too salty nor too bland.

Where it comes from

The Zhumadian city portal, carrying the county government's text, opens the recipe with a legend: Liu An, the Prince of Huainan (淮南王刘安), set his retainers to make an elixir from soybeans and brine at the foot of Funiu Mountain (伏牛山), a spot the portal places at the foot of present-day Chushan (出山). The result was tofu, and the portal says the new food spread through the streets of Chushan.

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