Liu An, the grandson of Emperor Gaozu of Han, was ambitious and wanted to invent something to make people live forever.

Even though he failed to make the magic pill, he used soybean and bittern to finally get niveous and tender tofu, which was surprisingly tasty.

The boss of a famous Douhua restaurant, Liu Xilu, learnt the methods of making beancurd from others and innovated on them until he finally came up with his own "secret recipe", which greatly improved its taste.

Variants of douhua can be broadly divided into three groups: savoury (鹹), spicy (辣) and sweet (甜).

Tofu brains can be found at breakfast stands along the streets in the morning, usually with eggs or youtiao (fried dough sticks).

It is served by carrying pole or bicycle vendors with several condiments such as chili oil, soy sauce, scallions, and nuts.

[7] Known as tofu fa, it can also be found sold in small stores on the side of popular hiking trails and beaches in Hong Kong.

In Penang, the common term is tau hua, due to Hokkien being its dominant local Chinese language.

It varies in three regions in Vietnam: Vietnamese sweet tofu is generally the same, sometimes it will changes based on summer or winter seasons.

Douhua is rich in nutrients, contains iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and other trace elements necessary for the human body.

In addition to its function of increasing nutrition and helping digestion, tofu is also beneficial to the growth and development of teeth and bones.

Because it melts into liquid soy milk when heated, it can only be eaten at room temperature, but the success rate of making it is extremely high.