Tofu is a versatile ingredient of many different textures made out of soybeans and water, coagulated into a semi-solid element with lots of nutritional value. Though mostly associated with vegetarianism in the West, tofu is not just for meat-free meals. It originates from China and is prominent in many Asian food cultures. Even though its taste is subtle, there are quite a few tofu types, with various consistencies and flavors, and Beijing is a great place to explore the depths of this simple soy protein.

Deep in the heart of Wangjing is Tofu Town, which specializes in soft tofu stews and has been open for over eight years. They even make their own soft silky tofu (hua doufu, 滑豆腐) with a huge processing machine in the back of the kitchen, which takes seven to eight hours. The kimchee tofu (¥38) is fragrant and sour, mixed with a dash of spice. The tofu has a soft, melted texture on the inside and a slightly grilled exterior. The seafood tofu stew (¥28) comes in a scalding hot stone pot with clams and other seafood in a spicy red broth. The tiaowei tofu soup (¥28) delivers a more natural and delicate bean curd flavor and comes with a soy kimchee paste to dunk your tofu in.

When it comes to Chinese cuisine, some of my favorite types of tofu are dried bean curd sticks (fuzhu, 腐竹), and tofu skin. I love spicing up fuzhu in malaxiangguo and often wander to popular chain Nadu during lunch. These sticks of bean curd have a rougher texture and look like bamboo. They’re made by bunching tofu skins and tying them together in a cloth to stew. A good place to try tofu skin is at Yunnan restaurant In & Out, which gets all its bean curd from Shiping County, which specializes in making tofu. The yummy cold Yunnan Shiping tofu (¥26) comes in long, noodle-like strips, topped with cilantro and red peppers in a sweet soy sauce mixed with a spicy paste.

Recently, I dared myself to finally try stinky tofu. If you don’t know what it is, you’ve probably smelled it walking outside and thought it was burning garbage. But Houhai’s famous Tianxia Diyi Chou, which claims to be the smelliest of them all, had a long line of locals. I was apprehensive, but when I finally got my deep-fried tofu topped with chili sauce, it turned out to be fine. It had a spicy chili flavor and tasted a bit like burnt cheese. I would never crave it, but it’s certainly not as horrendous as I feared.

Far from the bland ingredient many in the West might write it off as, tofu is actually a diverse ingredient of various textures, which shows off its versatility by taking on the flavors of whatever it’s cooked with.