Jianmen Tofu 剑门豆腐

Jianmen Tofu (剑门豆腐) is the bean curd of the Jianmen (剑门) area of Jiange County (剑阁县), Guangyuan (广元), in northern Sichuan, and the local tofu dishes built on it. Xinhua (新华网) calls it one of the representative tastes of Guangyuan, and Chinese Wikipedia lists Jianmenguan tofu (剑门关豆腐) as a Chinese geographical indication product.

How it is made

According to Xinhua, the curd is usually made from soybeans grown in the Jianmen hills and water from the 'Jian spring' (剑泉) of the Seventy-One Peaks of Jianmen (剑门七十一峰). The beans are soaked and ground, the pulp is strained off, the soy milk is boiled and then set with a coagulant, and the curd is drained. The result is snow-white, fine-textured and well-flavoured.

How it is eaten

In Jiange the tofu is the base for a whole repertoire of dishes. China News Service (中国新闻网) reports that the county has worked up more than 300 tofu dishes drawing on Three Kingdoms (三国) culture and northern Sichuan folk food, with names such as 'Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats' (草船借箭) and 'Mountain-Collapse Tofu' (崩山豆腐). Cover News (封面新闻) notes that the dish-making craft ranks among the 'Famous Banquets of Sichuan' (四川名宴) and the 'Seven Specialities of Guangyuan' (广元七绝).

Where it comes from

The Guangyuan city government named the Jianmen tofu making technique to its third batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage in 2013, and the craft of making Jianmen tofu dishes is also a Jiange county heritage item. In 2026 'Jianmen tofu dish-making' was added to Sichuan's provincial catalogue of vocational skill assessments, with the Sichuan Jiange Vocational Senior High School (四川省剑阁职业高级中学校) approved as a test centre.