Was tofu skin invented in China and who invented tofu

Tofu is all, will the tofu skin be not? Tofu skin is a traditional Chinese soy product, which is a food made from beans. There are a variety of famous dishes in both the southern and northern regions of China.

Tofu skin is flat and sweet, and has the effects of clearing heat and moistening the lungs, relieving cough and eliminating phlegm, nourishing the stomach, detoxifying, and stopping perspiration. Tofu skin is rich in nutrition, high in protein and amino acids, and according to modern scientific determination, there are 18 kinds of trace elements necessary for the human body such as iron, calcium, molybdenum, etc.

Tofu was invented by Liu An, the king of Huainan during the Western Han Dynasty.

According to legend, the mother of Liu An, the king of Huainan, liked to eat soybeans, but her mother could not eat whole soybeans. So, Liu An ordered someone to grind the soybeans into powder, boil them into soy milk, and put some salt brine, which turned out to be a lump, that is, tofu flowers. King Huainan's mother was very happy after eating it, so the tofu was handed down.

Regarding the origin of tofu, there is also a theory that Liu An invented it in the alchemy practice of organizing the alchemists. The alchemists used many minerals and inorganic salts in alchemy, and occasionally found that gypsum or other salts could coagulate soy milk to make tofu. Zhu Xi, a famous poet of the Song Dynasty, wrote that the tofu was originally the art of Huainan Wangshu.

In the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" also recorded the method of tofu, which began with Liu An, the king of Huainan in the former Han Dynasty.

Background to the invention

Liu An's invention of tofu was actually unintentional. In 164 B.C., Liu An was named the king of Huainan, the capital was set in Shouchun, Liu An has been thinking about how to live forever, he did not hesitate to recruit thousands of magicians, in today's Bagong Mountain to talk about immortals, write books and alchemy. They used the clear spring water in the mountains to grind the bean juice, and used the bean juice to cultivate the danmiao, but the elixir was not refined, but the bean juice and gypsum, salt had a chemical reaction, forming a fresh and tender thing, and this is also the prototype of tofu.

Someone had the audacity to taste some, and it was delicious. After Liu An heard about it, he and the monks tried it again and again, and finally made the soy milk solidify into a piece, and they gave this thing a nice name, called soybean milk, and later changed the name to "tofu". Since then, tofu has been widely spread among the people, and Liu An has inadvertently become the ancestor of tofu.

Grinding tofu is an ancient traditional handicraft technique. The whole process of making tofu is commonly known as grinding tofu, and the hipsters call it "dried tofu". On the twenty-fifth day of the lunar month, the folk have the custom of grinding to make tofu ("on the twenty-fifth day of the lunar month, pushing and grinding to make tofu").

Grinding tofu is to push the grinding disc around in circles.

In the past, all the methods of making tofu were done by manpower, and it was very laborious to grind soy milk, filter tofu residue, press water, etc. Modern technology has enabled tofu to achieve assembly line production, and various electrified refiners, slurry spinning machines, and dryers will make tofu from soaking soybeans to producing finished products.

South tofu is made of gypsum, and the texture is delicate because of the high water content of the solidified tofu flowers, and the moisture content is about 90%; Northern tofu is mostly made with brine or sour pulp, and the coagulated tofu flower has less water content, and the texture is older than that of southern tofu, with a moisture content of about 85%, but because of the less water content, the tofu has a stronger flavor, tougher texture, and is easier to cook.

According to legend, it was inadvertently invented by Liu An, the king of Huainan.