豆腐 (doufu), also known as beancurd, is a dish that is of widespread popularity in Chinese food culture. This can be attributed to the importance of its primary ingredient, soybean, in Chinese culture.

Soybean is considered as one of the five staple grains of china, also known as wugu, a term that is first mentioned by Confucius in the fifth century BC. [1]

Other records of its importance can be seen in around 2700 BC, under the reign of Chinese emperor Shen Nung, where soybeans were classified as one of the five principal and sacred crops and in the first century BC where Soybean is recorded as being one of the few staples that the Chinese people depended on. [5]

Its significance can also be noted in its usage in rituals. The ritual of saying farewell to the kitchen god is part of a Chinese New Year ritual. The Chinese believe that the kitchen god, who is in charge of the household, reports to the Jade emperor all the deeds performed by the family. Thus, in the practice of ‘sending the kitchen god to heaven’, the family would prepare different foods, including soybean in the form of doufu. [6] In the Liji, chapter 6 titled “monthly ordinance” describes a ceremony for the “son of heaven” (referring to the emperor) in which he is supposed to eat soybeans. The ancient character for soybean also appears on four bronze vessels from the early Zhou period, thus indicating that the plant was already of importance by tenth century BC. [3]

The primacy of soybeans in Chinese food culture might be due to its nutritional values. East Asians have long depended on soybeans for corrections of nutritional deficiencies. Soy products are concentrates of the B vitamins and contain significant amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc. Additionally, soybeans yield higher levels of protein as compared to other crops like corn. Thus, this resulted in it becoming the main crop for animal feed. [5]

Soybeans have a very bland taste and this probably inspired the development of flavourful fermented soy products, such as doufu. In China, the standard mandarin term for tofu in the pinyin writing system is doufu. Breaking down this Chinese word shows that it is a direct translation of what doufu is. Dou means bean, fu means fermented – and thus what doufu essentially is. [4]

The earliest known mention of the word doufu appears in the Ch’ing I Lu, written by T’ao Ku, around 950 AD (just before the Sung dynasty). In the story under the section titled Xiaozaiyang states: “When Shi Ji was the magistrate of Qing Yang, he emphasized the virtue of frugality among the people, and discouraged the consumption of meat. Instead, he promoted the sale of tofu (doufu), which gained the sobriquet, ‘mock lamb chops’ or ‘the vice mayor’s mutton.’. Thus, this implied that doufu was widely consumed due to it being less expensive compared to mutton.

However, doufu is believed to have been invented even earlier, during the Western Han dynasty by Liu An, grandson of Emperor Liu Bang. The theory states that Liu An was eager to learn the magical art of immortality but accidentally invented doufu instead.

This theory is supported by Li Shizhen’s “Pen-Tsao Kang-Mu” (Bencao Gangmu) in the Ming Dynasty which records that “the method for making tofu was originated by Prince Liu An of Huainan”. There are also stone carvings found in a Han dynasty tomb excavated in Mixian County, Henan, that contained an image of a production process from processing beans to making tofu. Proving that doufu was present in the Han dynasty.

As mentioned earlier, Soybean is considered by the Chinese to be one of their essential five sacred grains. Thus, it is likely that when doufu was first made, supposedly by Liu An, it was prepared the same way as grains. This is reflected in the traditional Chinese method of soaking, grinding, drying, boiling. The addition of a seawater precipitate would have seasoned the puree and also acted as a solidifying agent, thus forming curds. [2]

However, in the present age with advancements made in science and technology, most manufacturers replace the seawater precipitate with calcium sulfate as the coagulating agent. Some companies also use soy milk powder instead of freshly made soymilk. There is also the usage of new cooking technologies. Such as hydraulic presses and centrifuges which replace manual lever presses and hand-turned screw presses. Higher speed grinders and aluminum boxes which replaced the original boxes. Despite the increased efficiency, many believe that these new methods compromised the flavour of doufu. Thus, there is the observance of some traditionalist manufacturers retaining much of the old-style doufu production.

These production methods also apply to the production of doufuhua, which is the softest variation of doufu. There are many variations of doufuhua. Such as in northern Chinese cuisine, it is often eaten for breakfast with soy sauce and youtiao. Hubei cuisine serves it with sugar. While for the Sichuan cuisine, it is served without sugar, but instead a number of condiments such as chili oil, soy sauce, Sichuan pepper and sometimes eaten with rice. So for Mr Bean’s doufuhua, it is most similar to the Cantonese style of douhua that is served with clear syrup and as a dessert.

Bibliography

[1] Lunyu, 論語, Analects of Confucius, http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/analects.html, accessed 1/9/2019

[2] Avizienis, Audra. “Tofu”, in How Products are Made, edited by Kyung-Sun Lim, 465-469. Detroit: Gale Research, 1996. http://go.gale.com.remotexs.ntu.edu.sg/ps/pdfViewer?docId=GALE%7CCX2896600010&userGroupName=nantecun&inPS=true&contentSegment=&sort=&prodId=GVRL&isETOC=true&accesslevel=FULLTEXT&c2c=true#content

[3] Huang, H.T. “Early uses of soybean in Chinese history.” In The World of Soy, edited by Christine M. Du Bois, C.B. Tan, and S.W. Mintz. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. 2008 https://books.google.com.sg/books/about/The_World_of_Soy.html?id=tW6fjds6YwkC&redir_esc=y

[4] Shurtleff, William, and Akiko Aoyagi. History of Whole Dry Soybeans, Used as Beans, or Ground Mashed or Flaked (240 Bce to 2013). Lafayette: SoyInfo Center, 2013. http://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/165

[5] Sorosiak, Thomas. “Soybean.” The Cambridge World History of Food. Eds. Kiple, Kenneth F. and Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 422-27. https://www.cambridge.org.remotexs.ntu.edu.sg/core/books/cambridge-world-history-of-food/rice/2F74930254B4CE8ACE8B5A4F1D6DC349

[6] Zhao, Rongguang, Wang, Gangliu, and Wang, Aimee Yiran. A History of Food Culture in China. SCPG publishing corporation, 2015 https://doi.org/10.1142/z008