September 5, 2011

Tou Foo and Stinky Tou Foo

This post is dedicated to my hardworking and loving son who deserves to eat plenty of stinky tou foo for energy!! He first introduced me to this very special dish and I got to know more about it in Taiwan...So in a way Stinky Tou Foo and Taiwan just seem to be identified together.

This trip to Yunnan brought me closer to Stinky Tou Foo and it was a new romance all over again!!!! Laugh if you want...I think it could be quite hard for a man and a woman to fall in love eating stinky tou foo together. But who knows? Love can manifest itself in so many thousands of ways.

Confucious (Kung Tzi) would say...Don't eat Tou Foo..
Yi Tzi (My name) would say...Eat tou foo and more stinky tou foo - for you then know who your true friends are when you open your mouth and let out the foul odour!!


It is one dish you have to eat by yourself or it can be a dish shared with good friends with a gusto....Caution - you might lose all your friends...





Ordinary tou foo
Mouldy stinky toufoo

Went to do some research on stinky toufoo and this is what I got...

People who manufacture stinky tou foo need a special starter bacteria to help the fermentation of the tou foo.

Most Chinese would use a special brine known to their own family and pass the recipe from one generation to another. Sometimes the brine contains even meat besides mustard greens and Chinese herbs.

This family recipe for brine may call for a few months of fermentation.

Manufacturers may use something quicker to lower costs of production.

Fresh tofu is marinated in prepared brine for only a day or two, especially for fried or boiled cooking purpose.

According to several sources most production of stinky tou foo do not pass government inspection!!

close up of the beautiful layers of stinky tou foo
Beautiful cottony moulds growing on the stinky tou foo

In a way many people who love to eat stinky tou foo may have to learn to make their own at home. I don't think places with large Chinese populations will stop making this type of tou foo.

Good chilli sauce for the stinky tou foo :

1 tablespoon of pounded dried chili
1 tablespoon of fermentated tou foo
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tablespoon of good vinegar
Some Lea and Perrin sauce
Some pepper
Juice of three or five limes to give the sauce a good fresh tang!!
Lots of chopped spring onions.

You can add more or less of the above ingredients to your own taste.

Cheers.

8 comments:

sintaicharles said...

I love stinky tofu. Ate lots of them when I was in Shanghai,Hanzhou and Hunan.My sister told me the Taiwanese version was better(eaten with pickled cabbages).She studied in Taiwan before.

Ensurai said...

Charles...I am glad I find someone in Miri who like Stinky Toufoo ...Yes many people prefer Taiwanese stinky toufoo.

In KL there are a few shops selling it and they have different tastes and smells.

So far in Miri - belum ada.

Thanks for visiting.

Mumble jumble said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mumble jumble said...

When the youngest wanted Stinky Toufoo after traveling for hours on the plane, I drove him to the pasar malam nearby my place, where the most famous Chow Tou Foo was sold, and the car smelt like.. stinky toufoo for days!

Glad to have him say "mmm" after chowing down the goods though :p

We shall have it on Thursday,next time he comes. This time with the windows down.

I think the chilli and the Cabbage that came in the package was awesome though

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I am adventurous but I think I will give this smelly toufoo a miss.

Ensurai said...

Free Bird...yeah...it is the Taiwan style to serve chilli and cabbage I believe. KL stinky tou foo is great too...as long as I don't get food poisoning after eating.

Ensurai said...

Ann...I know...I know..and understand...give it a miss. May be one day you will see the light like me?

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