stinky tofu
andrew_c
August 24, 2008, 03:39 AM posted in General DiscussionLast weekend, my wife and I and some friends/coworkers went to a Taiwanese restaurant, Bob's Noodle 66 in Rockville, MD, and for the first time I experienced stinky tofu.
Tofu is by far my favorite food, and my wife has introduced me to many varieties of it, including 腐乳, but none of these prepared me for the 臭 of stinky tofu.
At first glance it looked just like any other deep-fried tofu I've seen; at first bite its texture was just like any other deep-fried tofu I've bitten into. But then less then a second later, the 臭 was released. I don't have the words to describe the degree of 臭 that this little morsel unleased in my mouth.
While enduring this stinky tribulation,
my wife was chowing down on it with a thoroughly satisfied expression on her face. Meanwhile our two friends, both 华人, didn't dare go near it. Thankfully Bob served it with a spicy sauce and garnished it with spicy pickled 白菜, which I used to slightly distract my senses from the 臭.
I have to say that I don't understand how people enjoy eating this dish. When I first tried durian, it was both repulsive and delicious. Stinky tofu, on the other hand, was just purely repulsive to me. I'll keep at it though. It's disturbing to think about, but maybe I'll start liking the 臭?
Andrew Zimmern did a show on Taiwan, and was actually defeated by some particularly stinky tofu:
andrew_c
September 09, 2008, 03:30 PMYeah, the stinky tofu I described above was in Maryland. I've definitely seen it in NY too. I think that many authentic Chinese, not necessarily Taiwanese, restaurants have it. Also, I noticed that they sometimes use euphemisms in English.
Mind telling us about this stinky bean? I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds like it might be good stuff!
pinkjeans
September 10, 2008, 10:49 AMWell, petai, as we call this smelly bean, is about the size of a broad bean and is in this long pod, grows wild in tropical jungles, so harvesting takes some effort and therefore can be costly from the local markets. Malaysians and Indonesians eat it cooked in spicy sambals. I think it is a matter of conditioning. The initiated enjoy the more mature bean which has a stronger smell than the young bean. The pleasure is in the 'aroma' released when chewing into the bean. The thing about it is it makes your pee stink! Enjoy the following pictures I found. The last one makes me drool!
pinkjeans
September 09, 2008, 02:49 PMI've never tried stinky tofu although I've heard so much about it. I'd love to, and I imagine I'd like it. After all I like durian and I also like this smelly bean that grows in tropical jungles. It's called petai or 臭豆, no surprise there. Can stinky tofu be found anywhere outside Taiwan?