Stinky Tofu

[bpearis]

Some Chinese-American freinds of mine took me too Flushing, Queens this weekend for some culinary adventures. This included a stop at the Flushing Food Court. Of the many foodstands featuring menus almost exclusively in Chinese, we stopped at two. The first was a noodle stand where a woman made them fresh -- cutting, stretching and slapping them on the counter before throwing them in the boiling water. Our soup had, I think, lamb and "36 Chinese herbs." It was delicious.

I wish I felt the same way about what we got from a Taiwanese stand -- stinky tofu. My friends were practically salivating in the car on the way out there, telling me how good it was. I'm a pretty adventurous eater and have no problem with offal, thousand-year-old eggs, and the like. But I met my match with stinky tofu. It came with some kind of cabbage-y green and a yellowish sauce. Taking in the aromas, my freinds got excited -- "It's so stinky!"

To me it sort of smelled like moist gym socks that have been at the bottom of a laundry pile for a month. The texture was much like that as well, spongy, squishy and stinky. Maybe I shouldn't have eagerly shoved a whole piece in my mouth, but I found it entirely foul and, after holding it in my mouth for a few long seconds, had to spit it out into my napkin.

Why hasn't this stuff been featured on Fear Factor? Obviously, some people love this stuff and searches on this site found a few members praising it but my palate was just not ready for it. Maybe it's like that scene in Defending Your Life -- it's food for people who use more of their brain than I do.

[tissue]

There are two versions. One type is fried, the other type is steamed with this red chili sauce.

[Jinmyo]

Chaw-dofu.

[bpearis]

That looks much more appetizing than what I attempted to eat. This was, I think, stir-fried. It looked like inch and a half sized pieces of white bread, but sort of yellowish in color. I was fine with it 'til I put it in my mouth.

[tissue]

Really?

I've only seen it deep fried in cubes, triangles or the other version like in Jinmyo's picture.

I prefer the steamed. It is spicier and smellier. Some places garnish with lima beans for color contrast.

[therockhopper]

I was at a business dinner in Tokyo about a year ago. They served us these harmless looking tofu cubes on a small plate with just a bit of soy on top. It was absolutely the worst thing I ever tasted. I had to put my hand over my mouth to keep from barfing - which would have made quite an impression on our business partners!

I am very adventurous with food. I'll try anything. These fermented tofu things are at the top of my very short "do not eat" list.

[Pan]

mascarpone and his wife and I had Sauteed Bad Smell Tofu tonight at Spicy & Tasty in Flushing, NY. It smelled stinky but the taste was almost like regular tofu, with just a bit of a cheesy taste and a nice texture which was kind of pockmarked with very small holes (which didn't go all the way through), which I presume were the product of fermentation. I liked it and would order it again, but the very mild cheesiness of it was kind of anticlimactic after years of being too chicken to order it because of the stink.

[Ling]

mascarpone and his wife and I had Sauteed Bad Smell Tofu tonight at Spicy & Tasty in Flushing, NY. It smelled stinky but the taste was almost like regular tofu, with just a bit of a cheesy taste and a nice texture which was kind of pockmarked with very small holes (which didn't go all the way through), which I presume were the product of fermentation. I liked it and would order it again, but the very mild cheesiness of it was kind of anticlimactic after years of being too chicken to order it because of the stink.

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The stuff you can get in Asia is much more potent than the stuff I get in Vancouver/Seattle. I'm guessing what I've eaten in Vancouver/Seattle is what you've had--a very mild fermentation, and not that stinky at all. I have also been disappointed by what I get over here--it's like fried tofu with a faint odour. They add something extra to the stinky tofu in Asia to make it extra stinky, from what I hear.

[AzianBrewer]

mascarpone and his wife and I had Sauteed Bad Smell Tofu tonight at Spicy & Tasty in Flushing, NY. It smelled stinky but the taste was almost like regular tofu, with just a bit of a cheesy taste and a nice texture which was kind of pockmarked with very small holes (which didn't go all the way through), which I presume were the product of fermentation. I liked it and would order it again, but the very mild cheesiness of it was kind of anticlimactic after years of being too chicken to order it because of the stink.

←

The stuff you can get in Asia is much more potent than the stuff I get in Vancouver/Seattle. I'm guessing what I've eaten in Vancouver/Seattle is what you've had--a very mild fermentation, and not that stinky at all. I have also been disappointed by what I get over here--it's like fried tofu with a faint odour. They add something extra to the stinky tofu in Asia to make it extra stinky, from what I hear.

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There are several restaurants in Taipei that are specialized in Stinky Tofu. They even used it as pizza topping!!!! Although, I am no fan of these foul smelling cubes but I will pick the fried one over the steamed.

[Renka]

On my trip to China I had my first real experience of the stinky tofu vs the fried tofu cubes I've had before. I'd like to pride myself for being open to all foods and to try everything at least once, however ensuring that whatever I eat won't pose a possible health concern later on. I don't want to have food poisoning or possibly catch SARS. So we were brought to this place near Hangzhou that was supposed to have really good stinky tofu by our Chinese tour guide. I was excited as I watched my order being freshly deep fried and when a lovely chili soy sauce was being drizzled over the blocks. They were fair sized chunks, at least a good two bites large. The outside was slightly crispy and the sauce imparted a bit of a chili kick… the custardy innards were insanely hot but practically melted in the mouth (think like foie or a smooth flan), and I didn’t really sense any disgusting flavour. It was only when I swallowed the tofu did this rotting taste/smell/sensation of smelly socks (or what I would imagine rotting smelly socks would smell like) rise up and cling to the back of my throat and down my esophagus. I couldn't get the smell/taste out of me! I downed a lot of fluids and tried to eat other snacks to wash the flavour away. It was seriously pungent. I have to admit the texture was quite pleasant, but the lingering taste… I've been there and done that once and it's quite enough. Age tofu for me from now on please.

Edited September 14, 2006 by Renka (log)