According to legend, tofu was invented by Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty.

In BC 164, Liu An was made King of Huainan, and when he was rewarded, he had nothing to do and began to wonder how he could live forever. Liu An was good, and he did not hesitate to pay a lot of money to recruit thousands of alchemists. He took in eight famous people at that time, including Su Fei, Li Shang, Zuo Wu, Tian You, Jin Chang, Lei Bei, Mao Bei and Wu Bei, and called them "Eight Men".

They often gather in Chushan to talk about immortals and write books on alchemy. They try to grind soybean juice with clear spring water in the mountain and want to cultivate Danmiao with soybean juice. Unexpectedly, the elixir was not refined, but instead, the bean juice met gypsum, which led to a chemical reaction and formed a fresh and smooth thing. Some people have the courage to taste some and find it very delicious.

After repeated experiments, Liu An and the alchemists finally made the bean milk solidify together. They gave a nice name to the embryonic form of tofu at that time-fermented milk, which was later renamed as "tofu", which is also the embryonic form of tofu.

Extended data:

On the 25 th of the twelfth lunar month, push the mill to make tofu.

In the past, ordinary people could not eat tofu at ordinary times and thought tofu was a "good thing". And on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone will reserve tofu for eating in the first month. After tofu was spread to the Central Plains, it was given the hope of being "rich" in the New Year because it sounded similar to "rich in the head".

But interestingly, some places in Xinyang still have the custom of eating tofu residue. According to local legend, when the Jade Emperor visited the lower bound, every household ate tofu dregs to show their poverty and hide the punishment of the Jade Emperor. Legend goes back to legend, and eating tofu residue is actually a portrayal of the virtues of our ancestors' diligence and thrift.