Eight Treasure Tofu

Eight Treasure Tofu was originally an imperial dish served in the Qing Dynasty. It’s said that Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty loved tender food very much so the imperial cooks invented a dish which mixes tofu with minced chicken, ham, pork, shrimp, melon seed, pine nut, and mushroom in thick chicken soup. Emperor Kangxi tasted this dish and was very satisfied. He immediately designated it as an imperial dish and named it Eight Treasure Tofu because he noticed the eight ingredients used were very nutritious and healthy. He had an imperial scholar write down the recipe and kept it as a treasure. During his inspection to Hangzhou, he granted this recipe to his favorite local official, the governor of Hangzhou. Overwhelmed by this unexpected favor, the governor kept the recipe to himself and took it as an heirloom. The recipe was passed down a few generations and was eventually received by Wang Mengting, the then mayor of Hangzhou. One day Mayor Wang held a banquet in his mansion, one of his guests being a local gourmet called Yuan Mei. Yuan tried this dish and wrote down the recipe on his book the Menu of the Sui Garden. Since then, the recipe was made public and gradually spread among ordinary people, hence became a well-known dish in Hangzhou.