An ancient Tujia staple from the mountains of western Hubei: whole soybeans stone-ground with water into an unfiltered slurry, simmered with fresh greens until they thicken into a nourishing stew halfway between soy milk and tofu. Called 'lazy tofu' for skipping the filtering and pressing, it is beloved for its clean, creamy bean flavour and the quiet economy of wasting nothing.
In the Wuling Mountain communities of Enshi and Yichang, soybeans were a precious and hard-won crop. A Tujia folk saying encodes the dish's centrality: 'chili peppers serve as salt, he zha carries the family through New Year.' During lean years the unfiltered soybean stew stretched scarce legumes to their nutritional limit, feeding families through harsh winters. The name he zha — literally 'combined dregs' — reflects the deliberate choice not to discard the okara but to eat the whole bean. The dish is recognised as a county-level intangible cultural heritage of Xuan'en County, Enshi Prefecture; the Zhang Guan variant, named after Zhangguan Town in Xuan'en, is listed among the Top Ten Dishes of Enshi.
A warm, cream-coloured bowl with green flecks of leaf — velvet-soft and porridge-like. The flavour is mild: clean raw-bean sweetness cooked to mellow creaminess, with the faint bite of blanched greens. Simple and quietly satisfying.
Unlike soy milk, which discards the okara after grinding, he zha retains all insoluble fibre — roughly 17% of dry soybean weight. When the unfiltered slurry is heated, the storage proteins in the soy denature and partially aggregate without any coagulant, forming a thick semi-solid texture. The retained okara fibres physically entrap the protein aggregates, producing a pudding-like consistency midway between soup and tofu curd. Stone grinding releases more fat droplets in a stable emulsion than blade blending, contributing to the characteristic creamy mouthfeel — which is why Tujia cooks insist on the stone mill.
Variations
Cured pork version (adds diced lap meat for richness); sour he zha (store 2–3 days for natural lactic fermentation, then reheat — especially popular in summer); potato version (simmered with diced potato for extra body); communal hotpot base (thinned with broth, used as a dipping pot for vegetables).
On the Palate
Where Tujia Soybean Stew sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
6 steps · 30 min active + 11 hours 40 min waiting
- 1720 min
Soak soybeans: wash 150 g yellow soybeans; cover with cold water and soak 10–12 hours (or overnight) until fully swollen and doubled in size.
- 210 min
Grind slurry: drain soybeans; grind in a stone mill or powerful blender with 500 ml of water to a fine, milky slurry; do not strain — the slurry and okara are used together.
- 35 min
Prepare greens: wash fresh radish greens (or white cabbage); strip any coarse strings; cut into 3 cm lengths; sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set aside.
- 410 min
Cook slurry: pour the unfiltered slurry into a deep pot; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching; skim any foam; season with salt.
Watch outStir the unstrained slurry constantly as it comes to a boil — it scorches on the bottom the instant you stop, and burnt okara ruins the pot.
- 55 min
Add greens and finish: stir in the radish greens; reduce to low heat and cook a further 3–5 minutes until greens are tender and the stew has thickened to a soft porridge consistency; taste and adjust seasoning.
Watch outSimmer with the greens until it thickens to a soft porridge — too thin and it's just soup; the retained okara is what gives the body.
- 62 min
Serve: ladle into deep bowls; drizzle with chili oil if desired; eat alongside corn rice or steamed rice.
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