Daohe Thousand Sheets

Daohe Thousand Sheets

　　The thousand sheets from Dayan Factory in Daohe Township, Lixian County, are tender in texture, thin in sheets, well-textured, and delicious. For over 600 years since the Ming Dynasty's Hongwu-era General Zhang Zhen governed the area, they have been highly praised across Hunan and Hubei. Cut into thin strips as wide as garlic leaves and simmered with meat, fish, or seafood, they hold together well without breaking apart or clouding the broth, making them a premium dish in both urban and rural areas. When dried to about 60–70%, sliced, soaked in saltwater for two hours, then sun-dried, they can be stored for two to three months. Before serving, simply rehydrate them in boiling water.

　　Thousand sheets are also known as "hundred sheets," with each sheet measuring 40 cm in length and 36 cm in width. The production process includes soaking beans – grinding into slurry – boiling the slurry – coagulating the brine – filtering the slurry – curdling – and pouring into molds. The first six steps are the same as making tofu, with only the pouring step differing. The biggest characteristic of Daohe thousand sheets is their thinness: while ordinary thousand sheets yield about 10 sheets per kilogram, Daohe ones can produce 20 or even 30 sheets per kilogram. Even when made by the same artisan using the same method, such thinness cannot be achieved outside of Dayan Factory. The reason lies in the high-quality river water within a 2.5 km stretch around Dayan Factory. According to mineral water experts from Shanghai, the Daohe rock-filtered water in this section contains 29 different mineral elements.

　　Current inheritors of the Daohe thousand sheets craft include Zhou Wengui, Li Ruisheng, and Yi Maosheng. The product is sold to major cities such as Changsha and Guangzhou. CCTV has once featured and aired a program on the handmade workshop of thousand sheets in Dayan Factory. Major publications such as 《Yuanli Heritage》, 《Lizhou Cultural Journey》, and 《Lixian County Annals》, along with national, provincial, and municipal newspapers and periodicals, have all introduced Daohe thousand sheets.

　　Information source: Lixian County People’s Government website