Shanghai’s beloved stinky tofu (chou doufu, 臭豆腐) can be prepared in a variety of ways, but Shanghailanders like theirs deep fried, doused in spicy and sweet sauces and very… well, stinky.
When your walking the streets of Shanghai and then smell a sweet weird stench, the local Shanghai will turn and follow the scent of stinky tofu anywh.? when locals get a whiff of fermented tofu frying, they follow their noses to find the quick and inexpensive snack.
?
“I usually can’t sell these fast enough; Shanghailanders usually come and snatch them up after work and school for a snack before heading home for the day.”
Mr Liu simply fries his cubes of tofu for just a few moments in boiling vegetable oil. Once drained over a rack, he skewers them, charges RMB 1 for four, and lets his customers customize their snack with the sauces he lays out.
“Instead of putting on the flavors I like, I let the customers do it because they are the ones who are going to eat this, not me,” he tells us. “Some like it spicier than others, some like them sweeter, and some like the combination of both together.”
But seriously, what is that smell?
It isn’t the taste that most people comment on when talking about stinky tofu though — it is, of course, the smell. Mr Liu bluntly tells us, “The tofu smells because it’s moldy.” Yum.? Like heese it’s the mold that makes the tatse for this great Shanghai snack.
The tofu goes through a brining process in fermented milk that is a fairly similar process to cheese making. While in this brine, vegetables, meat and sometimes dried seafood are added.
Every vendor has there own secret recipe for the great Shanghai stinky tofu.
He did, however, divulge that his brine ferments for an entire month, unlike factory-made tofu, which usually only brines for a maximum of two days.
He continues, “The smell here is nothing compared to the smell of the brine.”
We’re glad we’re not around for that.
The tofu then marinates large blocks of firm tofu for an additional week, creating, what we can only imagine, is the most unsanitary snack on the Mainland.
If you can bare the smell long enough to wait in line at a chou doufu vendor, we suggest trying this snack, as it tastes neither offensive nor smelly. The tofu is surprisingly — and a bit ironically — clean tasting, and its interior soft and crumbly.
If you don’t want to try the street-side smelly tofu stands but you do want to give this classic food a shot, making it at home is a good option.
Carrefour offers tofu that’s a little bit cleaner than the process Mr Liu describes. Their cubes of firm tofu only brine for a day, and in a liquid that has only been fermented for a few days longer.? Only the large local markets in Shanghai carry the raw stinky tofu.? Just buy and drop in some hot oil dip it in a little flour and then you have deep fried stinky tofu Shanghai style
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