Chicken-Silk Tofu Brains, the Six-Yuan Morning Bowl

Jīsī yī xiān, dòufu nǎo yī wǎn; liùyuán yī wǎn, zǎofàn yī lóng. — One thread of chicken, one bowl of tofu brains; six yuan a bowl, one morning basket.

Chicken-silk tofu brains (鸡丝豆腐脑, Jīsī Dòufu Nǎo) are the county’s breakfast dish: soft tofu brains (豆花) in a savoury broth topped with shreds of chicken (鸡丝), at about 6 yuan a bowl. It is the morning register of the county’s table — the cheap, fast, protein-carrying bowl that the market mornings run on — and the local answer to the question of what to eat before the day’s work starts.

The name is the texture: 豆腐脑 is the tenderest state of tofu, the curd before it is pressed, spoonable rather than sliceable. The savoury register is the breakfast one — a light broth with the chicken silk for substance and the local seasonings for edge — as opposed to the sweet version the region also knows. The dish’s economy is its point: a bowl that feeds, at a price the morning trade can carry.

The trade is the morning one — the stalls come out with the market and close by mid-morning, and the correct purchase is the bowl eaten standing at the stall’s counter. The locals’ order is the savoury register with extra chilli oil; the sweet version is the other half of the trade. A bowl plus one of the county’s fried snacks is the complete old-street breakfast.

flowcloud would say that the county’s tofu appears at three temperatures — brains hot in the morning, jelly cool at noon, and pressed in the evening — and that the morning bowl is the cheapest.

Where to find it: the morning stalls that come out with the market and close by mid-morning — the bowl eaten standing at the stall’s counter, on the old street. All checked October 2026.

Words and Names

豆腐脑 dòufu nǎo — tofu brains, the tender curd · 豆花 dòuhuā — bean-flower, the same tender curd’s other name · 鸡丝 jīsī — chicken silk, the topping · 咸口 xiánkǒu — the savoury register, the breakfast version