Odious tales of a Taiwanese dish, legendary for its odor, has reached my ocular and auditory senses well before it hit the olfactory one.
The dish will probably be prohibited from entering my country for being a biohazard, so for now I can only wonder what it may smell/taste like until I arrive.
Having been to Singapore before, I enjoyed some of the smellier foods: durian, sambal and belacan kangkung. I suppose in Western countries we have Marmite/Vegemite which I like, although I don’t like moldy (e.g. Stilton) or wormy (e.g. Casu Marzu) cheese.
Would any of you care to regale some tales of what is in store for me with this dish?
No specific recommendations. but you need “freshly” fried, with a “fresh” fermented veg side and not from a very stinky one. These tend to be palatable to even people that arent fans of WC aromatics. If you go to a dead local market at 3pm and buy the soup version, everything will taste better going forward Dont do it on a work day.
The reputation is greatly exaggerated. It smells bad at first but its actually really tasty.
There’s no specific best stinky tofu, it’s one of the most common night market street foods and more or less the same everywhere.
stinky tofu when done right, in the fried version, is very good indeed. My favourite is to add some chilli sauce, then the side of fermented vinegary veggies helps to cleanse the palate. I’m not too much a fan of the steamed or boiled version in soups.
There are also shops specialised in that besides hawkers at night markets, which can be hit or miss. Rule of thumb is: if there is a line waiting for the stuff, especially for traditional things (never trust TW palate for western food), then it is good.
It’s just tofu fermented in brine fulled with vegetables and herbs. There one Taiwanese youtube channel that tried to make it from scratch, and aside from several batches that they created out of their imagination, all the ingredients are very normal.
There are several vegetables and herb combinations traditionally used for this process, and some are more stinky than others. The most classic kind is fermented with the leaves of sweet potatos.
I think there is definitely one other kind that I do not like the smell, and one kind that I do not like the flavor. Aside from that it all comes down to how it’s prepared.
I like mine fried in big chunks, with the outside crispy but not crunchy, and the center tender and juicy. Then I prefer the center to be cut opened with kimchi and sauce stuffed inside.
