Kong Mansion Smoked Tofu

Kong Mansion smoked tofu, also called Qufu smoked tofu, is tofu slow-smoked over sawdust or grain husks until golden-brown outside and white within, carrying a distinctive smoke-and-five-spice fragrance, a traditional snack of Qufu.

Legend tells of a tofu-maker named Han whose family had long supplied the Kong mansion; one day a fire scorched the mats drying his tofu and stained it brown. Unwilling to waste it, he sent it anyway, and the Kong masters found the smoky flavour delightful, ordering him to make it on purpose, and smoked tofu became a Kong mansion dish; another tale credits the Qianlong emperor's praise at a tofu banquet during a Confucius memorial.

On Qufu streets the tofu is sliced and simmered with meat in a glossy red broth of chilli, fennel, Sichuan pepper and cassia, eaten hot with flatbread or jianbing, and also served cold or stir-fried, the most common way locals enjoy it.

Its smoke-brown crust, the five-spice-and-chilli braised flavour, and the attached legends of the Kong mansion and the Qianlong emperor set Kong Mansion smoked tofu apart from tofu elsewhere.