Pingqiao tofu is a signature Huaiyang dish: a pale, delicate soup made by simmering silken tofu cut into hair-thin strips with minced chicken, shrimp roe, and a clear stock. The result is at once simple and technically demanding — the knife work alone requires years of practice, and the precision of the flavouring is unforgiving of shortcuts. It is one of the clearest expressions of what Huaiyang cooking means: restraint in seasoning, perfection in technique.
The dish appears on the menus of good Huaiyang restaurants throughout the city, priced modestly. Visitors should eat it at a restaurant with some reputation rather than a canteen, since the quality variation is significant. The best version has tofu strips so thin they are almost translucent, a broth that is faintly sweet and deeply savoury, and a texture that is simultaneously silky and structured.