Shangqing bean curd

Updated: 2011-09-22

Shangqing bean curd in Yingtan city is a special local product of long historical standing in the ancient town Shangqing. The bean curd is popular and the making of it is reputed as a unique skill in Longhu Mountainous area. It has a unique flavor as bean curd or dried bean curd. It is full of nutriments and can be used as a medical treatment.

Shangqing town has a long history of processing bean curd. Bean curd workshops stand in great numbers in the town up to now. The bean curd is processed with high quality water and marvelous traditional crafts to look white, taste tender, smell fragrant, and feel smooth. It tastes better if cooked with yellow croaker, fresh pork, mushroom, fermented soya beans, chives or hot peppers. It is also well received when processed into fried bean curd, mildew bean curd, dried bean curd, and thin sheets of bean curd.

As the story goes, there lived a peasant family in Shangqing town during the reign of Emperor Yongjia of West Jin Dynasty (AD 265-317). The loving young couple was diligent and thrifty in running the household. Before the husband went to the fields in the morning, the wife would grind soys into soya-bean milk and put some salt for the husband to allay hunger. One day, the wife was to return to her mother's home. So, she grinded a bit more, and loaded the remnants in a jar and put on the lid for her husband on the second day. However, the husband forgot about it. When the wife returned home, she found the soya-bean milk formed lumps in the jar. She asked her husband to have a taste. The husband said "Are you kidding?" Anyway, he took a spoon and tasted it, and found it delicious. So, he ate it all in one go. He gasped in admiration, “Too delicious!" His wife said jokingly, "Will you have the gourmet luck if I did not tease you?" The husband replied happily "So, let's call the frozen soya-bean milk "Dou Fu", which has another meaning- "playing with your husband" in Chinese. Later on, the young couple made "Dou Fu" every day as a dish. The wife passed on the skill. Years later, the method was improved, resulting in the present Shangqing bean curd.

Shangqing bean curd

Shangqing bean curd