Soft Bean Curd 豆花
Soft Bean Curd is featured among the local specialties of Chongqing.
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Soft Bean Curd (豆花), or douhua, is soy milk set into soft, flower-like curds. China Radio International describes stone-milled douhua as a home-style dish known in every Chongqing household, with a history of more than a thousand years.
How it is made
The version documented in detail is the stone-milled douhua of Dianjiang County (垫江县) in Chongqing. Selected soybeans grown in Dianjiang are soaked in clean water, ground on a stone mill and strained through cloth; the soy milk is brought to the boil and then set with a distinctive brine bittern known as danba (胆巴). The Chongqing Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission sums up the traditional steps as grinding, straining and setting, and describes the result as tender yet holding together.
Flavour and texture
Dianjiang stone-milled douhua is milky white and forms fluffy, flower-like curds that are soft, tender and smooth, with a sweet aftertaste and a fragrance that stays in the mouth. Bowls at the county's douhua festival are described as milky white and fine-textured, finished with bright red chilli oil.
How it is eaten
In Dianjiang the curd is eaten by dipping it into condiments: salt, green chillies charred over a flame, diced zhacai (榨菜, preserved mustard stem), chilli oil and the stems of zhe'ergen (折耳根, fish mint).
Where it comes from
In 2016 the county began working towards the title of China's home of stone-milled douhua, drawing up plans and standards, developing named shops and dishes, compiling books and building production bases, and with its catering association it laid down rules for the raw materials, the method and quality. In September 2017 it held its first stone-milled douhua culture festival, and on 13 October 2017, at the opening of the 27th China Chefs Festival in Chongqing, the China Cuisine Association (中国烹饪协会) awarded Dianjiang the title (中国石磨豆花美食之乡). By then 38 douhua businesses in the county had been upgraded in a first round.
The festival has grown year by year since 2017 and now stands beside the county's spring peony festival. Its programme includes a douhua chefs' contest, a mass session in which a thousand people set douhua together, and hands-on douhua making for visitors.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-23. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.