Mishizhu Tofu Banquet

Mishizhu Tofu Banquet

　　The Mishizhu Tofu Banquet is a specialty of Mishizhen Township in Midu County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Tofu is the signature dish of Mishizhen — almost every household knows how to make it, with a wide variety of tofu dishes on offer. Locals warmly welcome visitors from afar with their colorful, fragrant, and delicious tofu banquet.

　　During the annual Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month in Mishizhen, there is another highlight when it comes to food — the farmhouse "Tofu Banquet." Visitors stroll along Wensheng Street, tread on horse-guiding stones, admire the ancient street architecture, and explore the Pearl Spring by the flowing stream of “Small River Flows.” Then they head to local farmsteads to enjoy the traditional Mishizhen lantern opera and savor the “Eight Bowls” of the Tofu Banquet: a bowl of soy milk, a bowl of fresh tofu pudding, a bowl of fried tofu, a bowl of tofu meatballs, a bowl of mapo tofu, a bowl of lotus-shaped tofu, a bowl of hairy tofu cooked with garlic, plus a bowl of wild pheasant with black-boned chicken — truly a unique and delightful experience.

　　The so-called Tofu Banquet means that all the dishes served are made from tofu. There are salted tofu, tofu pudding, stir-fried tofu, boiled tofu, stinky tofu, spicy tofu, tofu balls, as well as uniquely shaped specialty tofu such as lotus-shaped tofu, phoenix playing with peony, box tofu, pocket tofu, crouching dragon welcoming guests, fortune-filled granary, and nest-shaped tofu. There are even more creatively named artistic tofu dishes inspired by local famous mountains and waters, such as Pearl Love, Pearl Chain, and Phoenix Mountain Banquet — the entire table is filled with tofu.

　　The reason Mishizhu tofu tastes pure and has excellent texture is partly due to the area’s unique water resource — the Pearl Spring. According to experts, the mineral content of Pearl Spring water is just right, making it ideal for tofu production. The other key factor is the rigorous production process: ① Washing: High-quality soybeans grown in Mishizhen are thoroughly washed; ② Grinding: The cleaned soybeans are ground with an appropriate amount of water using a stone mill; ③ Filtering: The ground soybean mash is filtered once through fine gauze; ④ Boiling: The filtered mash is boiled in a large pot to become soy milk; ⑤ Coagulating: The boiled soy milk is poured into a ceramic jar, then mixed with a certain proportion of sour soy milk to form tofu curd (tofu pudding); ⑥ Pressing: The tofu pudding is scooped into a special wooden mold, drained and cooled, then cut into blocks with a tofu knife to make white tofu; ⑦ Aging: The cut white tofu is placed in a wooden box lined with straw, where it ferments for 3–4 days until it grows light yellow fuzz, turning into hairy tofu. It can be boiled, pan-fried, stewed, steamed, roasted, or pickled into preserved tofu, all of which are incredibly tasty.