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Fermentation Atlas

Soy and legumes from Yunnan, China

Lufu (Yunnan fermented tofu; Shilin/Lunan and Mouding styles)卤腐

soft, red-coated, golden-centred spicy fermented tofu in liquor or oil; eaten with rice, spread on grilled erkuai, or made into sauce for Yunnan barbecue and stinky tofu [WP-Lufu]. Made in 4 steps over 3.3 months. The longest step, pack in jars and age (second fermentation), takes 3.3 months (Yunnan Shilin Scenic Area Administration). Salt is 6.6–6.8 % (High-throughput sequencing-based study on bac…). mould on pehtze not identified in any Yunnan source read and bacteria in commercial oil lufu: Firmicutes 42.81 % (Mouding); Enterococcus 31.15 % of Mouding sample do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3.3 monthsReported[ShilinHeritage]Pack in jars and age (second fermentation)
Salt6.6–6.8 %Measured[PMC12319093]Dip in baijiu, coat with salt and spice powders
DocumentedSoy and legumes3.3 monthsMore soy and legumesMore from China

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
firm tofu from yellow soybeans
salt
chilli powder
star anise powder
Sichuan pepper powder
grain baijiu (≥50 % ABV for Lunan lufu)
cooked rapeseed oil (oil types)
Starter: spontaneous mould growth on tofu (some sources say on rice straw); commercial Mouding and Shilin oil types now made by artificial inoculation [PMC12319093]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.3 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Firm tofu is made and cut into cubes

Step 1 of 4
Make firm tofu
Time
hours
Unconfirmed
Temperature
~100 (boil soymilk)
Unconfirmed
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Enterococcus
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: tofu cubes.

Flavour
bland
Texture
firm curd, cut into cubes
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

none

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

Variants

  • Jiu lufu (酒卤腐, liquor lufu)cubes stored in baijiu brine [ShilinHeritage]
  • You lufu (油卤腐, oil lufu)cubes stored under cooked rapeseed oil; Mouding furu is this type (natural moulding, cooked oil, chilli, salt, pottery jars; a national geographical-indication product) [search summaries; PMC12319093]
  • Jizong lufu and ganbajun lufutermite-mushroom (Termitomyces) or Thelephora ganbajun mushroom added [ShilinHeritage]

Safety

Commercial samples carried Enterococcus and Acinetobacter; the study flags possible virulence factors [PMC12319093]. Home natural moulding is more contamination-prone than inoculated production (expert comment in a 2026 news summary).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Meng family lufu in Shilin dates from Guangxu 5 (1879) [ShilinHeritage]; Shilin lufu said to be over 200 years old [ShilinHeritage]. Lunan lufu origin given as mid-Qing in some sources and 1898 in others (conflict). Academic chapter: Lin et al. 2016.

  1. [WP-Lufu] Wikipedia, Lufu (food), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufu_(food); vandal edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=1290385766wiki
  2. [s2] Lin Q., Sirisansaneeyakul S., Wang Q., McElhatton A. Yunnan Fermented Bean Curds: Furu (Lufu). In: Modernization of Traditional Food Processes and Products, Springer 2016, pp. 125–144, doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-7671-0_12 (not read; paywalled)paper
  3. [ShilinHeritage] Yunnan Shilin Scenic Area Administration, 石林土特产 (Meng family lufu, varieties, 100 days, two fermentations), http://shilinheritage.com/public/natural/zh-CHS/detail-394-899.htmlweb
  4. [PMC12319093] High-throughput sequencing-based study on bacterial community structure and functional prediction of fermented bean curd from different regions in China. Sci Rep 2025, doi:10.1038/s41598-025-13691-zpaper
  5. [s5] Search summaries (Sohu 2025 Mouding article; 163.com and smzdm lists) for Mouding and Lunan details; treat as weakother