Soy Milk

Dòujiāng (soy milk) is among China's oldest processed food products, documented from at least the Han dynasty and arguably earlier. In its fresh, freshly made form — as opposed to the shelf-stable commercial products that fill supermarket shelves — it occupies a central position in the Chinese morning food culture that is difficult to overstate.

Production at a breakfast stall begins before five in the morning: yellow soybeans, soaked overnight, are fed through a stone or electric grinder with water, producing a grey-white liquid. The raw liquid is strained through cheesecloth to remove the solid okara (bean pulp), then heated in a large pot until it reaches a rolling boil. The freshly cooked doujiang is warm, mildly creamy and has a clean, honest beany flavour with a natural sweetness from the soy proteins.

The regional flavour divide is significant and deeply felt. In Shanghai and the eastern tradition, salty doujiang (xián dòujiāng) is the historic norm: boiling doujiang is poured into a bowl containing small amounts of dried shrimp, chopped pickled mustard greens, dried nori, chilli oil and a splash of black rice vinegar. The acidity of the vinegar curdles the soy protein into delicate silky threads — this is not a mistake but the intended texture. The result is warm, savoury, complex and quite unlike the plain drink. Further north and in southern China, a sweetened version with rock sugar, osmanthus syrup or red date is the default.

Doujiang is drunk alongside youtiao dough sticks, which are torn into pieces and dunked, or paired with shaobing (sesame flatbreads) in northern China. The commercial alternative, in cartons, is adequate; the stall-made version is the reason to eat breakfast outside.