June 23rd, 2005臭豆腐
Do you think that this looks good?
The famous 臭豆腐 (chou doufu), smelly beancurd, the deep-fried fermented beancurd… 
Some people have only two words to say about the smelly beancurd: “disgusting” & “smelly”.
I bought the smelly beancurd on the street. I had seen that street vendor a few times already but never dared to try the smelly beancurd before. I decided to be brave and try.. 
The wok was filled with oil and the street vendor dropped some of the beancurds in it to deep-fry them. I was looking at that oil and wondering if the vendor ever changes the oil..
Imagine using the same oil for days to fry the smelly beancurds…. 
Before being fried, the smelly beancurds look like normal beancurds with tiny black specks on them.
The smelly beancurds were done within minutes ( actually that felt like seconds.. ) and I put some sauce and chili on it.
I have to say that the smelly beancurd didn’t smell as bad as I thought it would and didn’t taste bad too. It had a faint bitter taste to it and Qz who was with me ate a piece and said that it was not good enough. Apparently, if it is really smelly , then it tastes nicer… er.. 
I think i need to eat smelly beancurds one more time before really saying my last word about it.
My current opinion is … not bad.
I did get a sore throat the next day and I think it’s because of the oil. My teacher told me that I should try to buy the smelly beancurd at restaurants instead.
Anyone who likes French cheese (some of which are really smelly) or Durian might like the smelly beancurd.
hmmm then I may not like it (althouth I like beancurds a lot) since I don’t like smelly french cheese and durian
Have you tried durian before? 
Quote?Yes, smelly beancurd is like cheese, if it smells bad then it probably tastes really good.
I love them. Your photos make me hungry and drooling.
Quote?huhuhu…looks tasty…this i have yet to try
Quote?I’ve seen those when I was in Shanghai a month ago.
But didn’t dare to try it because it.. smelled bad.
Ironically, I love durians! Can’t live without them!
Quote?well, I think you really need to go visit Hunan for the real 臭豆腐, which is called 臭干子 over there. What you ate were probably Shanghai style that has developed its local taste, like with the sauce. :mrgreen::cheers:
Quote?omgwtfbbq, scrumptious! I feel I’m gonna regret saying that when I actually try it in the future.
Quote?awww i hate those, each time i smell that i *dsgrtuyidfg* 臭死!!
Quote?although it stinks, i regretted not trying them out when i was in HK. now i can’t get it in malaysia.
Quote?looks tasty, yummy…:P
Well, I do LOVE blue smelly cheessseeee and anything other cheese which smells STRONG:P Am not so sure about the smeel bean thing though. hey, but looks like normal teo kon to me:roll:
Quote?I tried a tiny piece of durian before.. in the supermarket.
Des broke off a piece from a durian which had already cracked open and made me eat. I didn’t get the taste. *shrug* The durians here aren’t good. Never mind la. Next year when i go to Sg, I try. 
Quote?it is smaller and euh.. the taste & smell is different.
Quote?So that’s what the stuff looks like! I can always smell it when I go by the vendors but I’ve never dared go close enough to take a look.
Maybe one day I’ll try it. I have to muster up the courage to try durian as well!
Quote?i love to eat this but i hate the process… oh ya btw i’m from singapore, there’s hardly any fermented tofu stalls, i only tried it once in Chinatown.. however due to the pungent smell, the stall was requested to close down by many complaints from the neighbouring stalls.. a pity..:cry:
Quote?Well, it looks a lot different in your picture, than it does here in 东北… Here in JinZhou, the stuff is pretty nasty looking, as well as smelling. It is usually black flat squares on a stick.
Many students will tell me, “It smells bad, but it’s very delicious.” I’ve learned to hate the word “delicious” here.
I usually answer them with, “Ok, what does sweaty donkey butt taste like? I’ve never tried that, but I’m sure it smells just as bad.”
And, before you say it, no, I am not being culturally insensitive. My students know my meaning, and not EVERY person in China wants to eat it either.
Quote?haha .. Well the smelly beancurds in my pic are the nicer-looking ones I guess. I was lucky.
I wouldn’t dare to eat them if they were ‘black flat squares on a stick’.I guess they don’t make it the same way in JinZhou and Shanghai.
Quote?The smelly doufu looks delicious to me! hahaha…The ones which i have eaten in Taiwan are served with pickled vegetables. Even better!
Quote?I like 臭豆腐 it’s awesome…. Taiwanese and norther versions are too weak.. not enough flavor, but cantonese versions are too stinky! What a predicament!
Quote?Hey hey I just saw this smelly tofu in Singapore! lol … It’s really smelly man!! I dare not try
Quote?stinky but taste great!
Quote?awww.. you should try it one day. Think of durian.. Strong smell but tastes great.
Same for the smelly tofu..
Quote?