Stinky Tofu - History

History

According to folk stories, stinky tofu was invented by a person named Wang Zhi He (王致和)in the Qing dynasty. However the versions of the exact story are quite varied.

Soft Stinky tofu:

Because of failing the imperial examination, Wang Zhi He stayed in Beijing and relied on selling tofu to make a living. One day, because of the huge quantity of redundant tofu, he tried to cut the tofu into small cubes and put them into an earthen jar. After several days, he opened up the jar and found out that the tofu had turned greenish and became extremely smelly. He tasted the “stinky greenish tofu” and it was surprisingly delicious. And so he decided to sell those “stinky greenish tofu” as a commodity in his store.

Dried stinky tofu:

During the Kangxi period, Wang Zhi He was a tofu seller as well as a pig feeder. One day, he was making dried tofu with an earthen jar. After he put all the seasonings in the jar, he was distracted by the pigs and forgot to close the lid, and so the white paint on the wall kept falling into the jar. A while later, after Wang Zhi He had settled down all the pigs, the dried tofu had already turned into dried stinky tofu.

The Taiwanese culture of eating stinky tofu:

Deep fried stinky tofu:

Deep fried stinky tofu is a common dish in both Taiwan night markets and restaurants. Before the 90s, hawkers even wandered around the street and peddled deep-fried stinky tofu. In Taiwan, people usually eat the deep fried stinky tofu with the local sweet and sour pickled vegetable in order to relieve the greasiness.

Spicy stinky tofu:

Spicy stinky tofu is a new cooking method for stinky tofu in Taiwan. Because of the prevalence of spicy hot pot, Taiwanese people came up with a new idea of forming a rich-flavoured spicy hot pot soup base by using stinky tofu, duck blood and Chinese sauerkraut as the ingredients. This innovative cooking method of stinky tofu is now popular in Taiwanese culture.

Soft Stinky tofu:

Soft Stinky tofu commonly used as a condiment for rice, bread, congee or noodles. It can also be used as a seasoning for cooking.

Stinky tofu shashlik:

Stinky tofu shashlik is a popular cooking method of stinky tofu in the Taipei Shenkeng district and many of the Taiwan night markets. Cubes of stinky tofu speared on a bamboo skewer are roasted over charcoal with roasted meat sauce. Because of the huge amount of seasonings, the unpleasant odour of the stinky tofu shashlik is comparatively weaker. Therefore, stinky tofu shashlik is always recommended for people trying stinky tofu for the first time.