"Beancurd of Jianmen Pass" is a delicious food known as "the pearl of Shu Path". It originates from Jiange county in Guangyuan city, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

A dish of Jianmen Pass beancurd. [Photos provided to govt.chinadaily.com.cn]

For thousands of years, the people of Jianmen Pass have created many methods of making and cooking beancurds (also known as "tofu"), and have gradually formed a distinctive local specialty.

Compared with other beancurds, "Beancurd of Jianmen Pass" has four outstanding features: a snowy-white color; a delicate texture; a strong resilience that doesn't break even when it is cut, stripped, sliced or shredded; and a delicious flavor. Even the beancurd made in Jiange county, 30 kilometers away from Jianmen Pass, can't match it.

It is said that famous cooks in Jianmen Pass cannot duplicate the speical beancurd in the Jiange county and other places.

Three factors lead to this result. One is that the soybeans in Jianmen Pass are grown in the rocky and sandy soil of mountain areas so that the content of protein and fat is high. The second is that the water for making the "Beancurd of Jianmen Pass" is spring water from the Seventy-two Peaks of Jianmen Mountain, which has rich mineral ingredients. The third is the exquisite production method and unique skills.

"Beancurd of Jianmen Pass" requires very particular cooking methods, including stir-frying, steaming, roasting, stewing and so on. There are more than 80 varieties of beancurd products. In recent years, with the rapid economic development, Beancurds of Jianmen Pass have become more and more popular.

There are more than one hundred beancurd shops in Jianmenguan town. People can taste a sumptuous beancurd banquet with all the dishes made of tofu: some with beautiful colors, some with attractive shapes, others with a salty but sweet flavor, and some glossy but not greasy. All the different beancurds are dazzling.

Banquet of Jianmen Pass beancurd. [Photos provided to govt.chinadaily.com.cn]

As soon as people enter this ancient town, they feel as if they are in the "hometown of beancurd", as they see beancurd placed on the table, cooked in the pot, and steamed in bamboo steamers. Chinese and foreign tourists traveling in Jianmen Pass and pedestrians on the Sichuan-Shaanxi Highway are all eating beancurd. Clearly, what was a common people's dish in the past has become today's delicacy.