1/18/2023 0 Comments Stinky tofu![]() ![]() The whole mixture is left to fester for up to six months while micro-organisms have their way. Vegetables and possibly shrimp are added to the brine. Traditionally this was done in a very large unlidded earthenware jar. Tofu in its basic form is invariably described as bland, so what puts the stink into stinky tofu? For this a fermentation brine is needed. Either that, or by then you are so saturated in its perfume that you are getting used to it. The strong odour is mainly in the cooking, and it subsides quite a lot once the tofu comes out of the oil. When you order a plate of the stinky stuff, you will probably also get a simple soup with it, gratis. The topping is finished off with a dollop each of chilli sauce and minced garlic. It consists of vinegar, sesame oil, shredded oriental cucumber, and pickled Chinese cabbage. This lets the topping penetrate the crust. Once the cubes of tofu are fried and drained, the vendor gently makes a hole in the top of each cube with a chopstick or tongs. It is served with spicy topping that nicely compliments the tofu and offsets any deep fry greasiness. It should be golden and crisp, even crusty. Those that do are likely to be specialists – if all your customers are eating it no one will be offended, right? These places usually offer a variety of stinky tofu such as deep-fried, stewed, steamed or even raw.Īs it is normally eaten in Taiwan, stinky tofu is deep-fried. It is widely available in China but in Taiwan stinky tofu is especially popular. It is roughly comparable to the smell of a fetid, open sewer anywhere on the planet, (though I have a friend who disputes this: he reckons you would never notice the smell of the sewer with a stinky tofu stall nearby). It is often said that stinky tofu is to China what the durian is to southeast Asia, or what Stilton cheese is to England. ![]() But smelly hardly seems an adequate adjective to describe the reeking power of this fermented bean curd. Try cooking this dish at home, and you will promptly be asked to move out not just from the house, but from the neighbourhood. There is a good reason why stinky tofu is a street food. My dad shot off at what was for him, an unusually quick pace, and didn’t slow down until he was safely out of range, certain he wasn’t being followed. I pointed to a stinky tofu vendor, acrid smoke wafting over his pushcart. I was unfurling my map as we walked down the street, when my father stopped in his tracks, spun around, mildly frantic, as if searching for the source of some impending disaster. We had come to marvel at the old temples Tainan is famous for. We were in Tainan, the old city that in the 17th century was the centre of a brief period of Dutch occupation. He and my brother were visiting me in Taiwan and we were doing a brief tour of the island. ![]() ![]() What I do remember though, is my father’s reaction when he first discovered it. Stinky tofu is such a notorious dish that it seems an odd thing that I cannot recall my own first encounter. If smells could kill … This bean curd is to China and Taiwan what the durian is to southeast Asia. (Image: Stephen Jack) Notorious Chinese stinky tofu: love it or hate it, there’s no ignoring its extraordinary reeking power. In summary, phenol and p-cresol were formed by the metabolism of tyrosine and phenylalanine through five reaction chains, and indole and 3-methylindole were formed by the metabolism of tryptophan through one and three reaction chains, respectively.Notorious Chinese Stinky Tofu Taiwan deep-fried stinky tofu with pickles. The main associated enzymes were transaminase, decarboxylase, and lyase. The main associated bacteria Clostridiales bacterium SYSU GA17129, Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus, and Anaerosalibacter massiliensis were significantly positively correlated with key flavor substances ( P < 0.05). Dynamic changes in associated bacteria, enzymes, and differential metabolites in the metabolic pathway of aromatic amino acids in brine were investigated. Understanding the formation mechanism of the flavor compounds in stinky tofu brine is crucial for controlling the flavor quality of Changsha stinky tofu. ![]()
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