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Soy beans grown by Huang. [Photo provided to nantong.gov.cn]

Huang Yunfei, a villager in Dongjin, Qidong, Nantong, has persisted in making tofu in traditional ways for over 40 years to preserve the authentic taste that cannot be replicated by machines.

To ensure taste and quality, Huang uses self-grown soybeans to make them.

Huang usually grinds the soybeans after he soaks them for at least eight hours and boils the soy milk over a mud-made stove. He then adds a coagulant mixture to curdle the soy milk into soy curds, a crucial step in making tofu.

Soy milk is boiled over a mud-made stove. [Photo provided to nantong.gov.cn]

Huang said that to make tender tofu, the ratio of coagulant mixture to soy milk must be very accurate.

He then uses cheesecloth to get rid of the excess liquid from the soy curds before placing them into a tofu mold.

After the tofu is ready, Huang sets up a stall in front of his house, which is always busy with customers.

Huang sets up a stall in front of his house. [Photo provided to nantong.gov.cn]

"There used to be many tofu workshops in Dongjin," said Huang. "My shop is the only one still operating today."

As the 200-year-old tofu making techniques have gradually faded away, the Qidong Culture Center has been dedicated to promoting such techniques and seeking inheritors to preserve the traditional taste.