I used to think that about half the foreigners here have never tried stinky tofu and the other half love it. Then my brother tried it and didn’t like it so I guess it’s possible.
Main variety is the fried stuff. BBQ is even tastier. I’ve never tried the steamed soupy one, because it’s never veggie. If you have different opinions on different varieties, how about just voting for the deep-fried.
I think it’s great stuff. However, it isn’t all the same. Differences in quality and cooking methods vary widely. I recommend a local person who loves the stuff to suss out a good place.
Agree with you Maoman. Had some disgusting stuff yesterday in taidong. The ‘suan cai’ was just ‘cai’. What’s the name of the famous town out past Muzha where they’re sposd to have the best choudofu in Taiwan (the world?). Shen Keng? I’ve had good stuff there. Actually there’s a lot of good stuff around. My favorite ever was some very ripe BBQ’d stuff in Jiufen (very last one as you walk through the market).
The first time I smelled chou doufu, I checked the bottoms of my shoes because the way the stench lingered, I thought I had stepped in something.
Then at my school’s last weiya, they served chou doufu with the smell subdued. I suspected what it was so I took a very tiny snippet of it, put it in my mouth with the taste filling my mouth and realized that the smell is misleading as it didn’t taste like dog shit…
It tasted dog shit and fermented vomit. :?
How can you people eat that? :shock: It wasn’t in my mouth for a second before it hijacked my tastebuds. Why would someone choose to eat something that smells like that?
A true chou doufu fan must be the guy whose mouth waters whenever he just hears someone fart.
The BBQ stuff is OK, but the steamed stuff, FORGET IT… I don’t want to try tasting Dog Shit, but if ImaniOU is correct, that is what it tastes like! Double YUK!
I was going to add this to the limerick thread but it seems just as appropriate here:
There is a foul dish called Cho dofu.
That smells like bad fish in an old stew.
It’s on every street.
For the people to eat.
But for me, I’m more happy with poo poo.
I like it, great taste, I think it is all in the imagination. It goes especially nicely with a cold Taiwan Beer, and what I really like about it is the picked cabbage on the side. That’s what I order it for, and the chodofu aint bad either. But it takes all kinds, some like it , some don’t. It has never bothered me the way some posters above said. But if you are determiedn to NOT like soemthi,g, you will NOT like it. And if you are determined to LIKE soemthing, damn it, you WILL like it. It’s all in the mind.
I had some the other day with some green miso sauce on top. Really quite good, with the Tai Bi by my side!
I grew up in Taiwan and although I currently live in Canada I have very vivid recollections of the Chou DoFu man walking down the alleys with his yoke over his shoulders and a big container of the “stinky stuff” on either end of it. My mother just about had a fit trying to keep all five of her children from eating it. One could hear him calling out his wares and could smell him coming from blocks away! We all loved it though and as I am returning to Taiwan to live this summer I anxiously await re-tasting it. I wonder though, if after all these years… will I be able to get past the smell?
Maybe I’m the strangest person around…I’ve been here for 3 years, but haven’t actually identified what chou tofu is. I’ve probably been smelling it without recognizing what it is, and of course I have heard of it. Haven’t gone out of my way to identify it, though, so I’m still completely unaware of the possible delights I’m missing out on…
Probably the reason you’ve missed it, is that despite the name, and what everyone says, chou ofu, smells pretty good. You’ll probably end up saying “oh THAT’s choud dofu - I eat that heaps”.
Anyway, interesting that 15% of people think it’s disgusting without even having tried it. Turns out that only 22% of people who have actually tried it, dislike it. (freaks)
Agree with you on the durian though Rascal. That shit is shit. I was burping durian for 24 hours after eating it. the taste just wouldn’t go away.
[quote]Maybe I’m the strangest person around…I’ve been here for 3 years, but haven’t actually identified what chou tofu is.[/quote]After 3 years in Taiwan you’ve probably lost your sense of smell anyway. Take a walk down some of the alleys, the smell nearly knocks me out everytime. Not game to taste it at all. I believe you though Bri, I’m sure it tastes good. One day, I might give it a go.
I’ve tried it plenty and there’s really no diff, in my opinion, with deep fried chou tofu and deep fried regular tofu. Chou tofu just really reeks before cooking it…just don’t stand near the vendor while he’s cooking it hehe.
I have tried it two times and both times have failed to finish. There is a HELL of a difference in the taste between regular dofu and chou dofu.
Yesterday I was talking to a taiwanese businessman who told me he knows a guy who is isolating the bacteria that ferments chou dofu. He has put a patent application in for that strain. He is also busy trying to isolate other strains or create other ‘fresher’ smelling varieties for the foreign market. We had a good laugh as to who would actually buy it overseas??? We agreed that a lot of Asian countries could get into it.
