🍽️ Milk Tofu

Fermented milk curd, tangy and chewy.

Milk Tofu is a traditional dairy of the Xilingol grasslands in Inner Mongolia, eaten year-round by herders. Fresh milk is fermented, boiled, curdled and pressed, then air-dried into blocks. Milky white or pale yellow, firm and tangy, it deepens in milky flavor the longer it is chewed; eaten plain, soaked in milk tea, deep-fried or as a snack. On the grassland it is a portable, long-keeping energy food for herders. Xilingol's vast pastures support herds of cattle and sheep, and milk tofu is a representative of this nomadic dairy culture, often dried into blocks and given as precious gifts to guests. Tangy, chewy and richly milky, it is often paired with milk tea to balance the saltiness, and remains a special dairy for visitors experiencing Inner Mongolia's grassland foods and nomadic life.