Somewhere along the line, I have developed a love of tofu in all forms: hard or soft, raw or cooked, fried or baked.  I am not sure when I started to like tofu so much, since NO ONE in my family likes it, I am sure.  (Actually I shouldn’t say that…I have never heard anyone speak about tofu one way or the other.)  When I was little I even had bad tofu experiences.  In first grade, my mom’s fiance Kevin was in medical school, and so I guess he thought he should impart his health wisdom into our everyday lives.  I remember sitting at the dinner table, eating what I thought was a plate of chicken and rice.  Little did I know that some of the cubes of chicken were actually pieces of tofu cleverly disguised and camouflaged to blend in with the chicken.  I distinctly remember biting into a cube of tofu that I thought was chicken…it was an experience very similar to when you bite into a skittle that you think is an m&m, or into a raisin cookie that you think is chocolate chip.  I was stunned and then horrified by the gushy texture of the tofu!  I was in first grade and had never even heard of tofu.  I remember being really mad that I had been duped, and also wondering why in God’s name someone would play a mean trick like that. 

Despite that bad first experience with tofu, I now love it!  It may have something to do with my vegetarian friend Sarah.  Sarah turned me on to delicious Morningstar vegetarian breakfast links, and all the good ways to eat tofu. 

I had never heard of "stinky tofu" (chou dofu) until I moved to Hong Kong.  I wanted to try it the moment I heard about it, because I couldn’t imagine tofu could smell very bad.  Most tofu I have had is very mild and I like the odor.  I was very intrigued by the stinkiness!  I hadn’t run across stinky tofu until Matt and I were in Zhaoqing.  Even then, I didn’t realize that it was stinky tofu, or that it even stunk at all…I was just intriqued by the little black squares that looked like coal but were apparently edible.  Matt told me after we had eaten it that it was stinky tofu, I had no idea!  He couldn’t believe that I didn’t notice the smell, but I guess I just thought it was the smell of the busy street.  We were in an alley after all, and it was China, and smells have been known to occur…I didn’t really connect the smell to the food.  Matt has a very keen sense of smell, so he is sensitive to foods that are very ripe smelling.

So what were my impressions?  Well, it was deep fried and so it was very, very oily.  (Like most food in China, it seems.)  But, I did like the crisp outer part and how it contrasted with the soft, custard-like texture of the inner tofu.  Most of all I liked the topping the hawker lady put on it: a garlic mixture and some hot sauce.  Delicious! 

In the end, I probably wouldn’t buy the stinky tofu again…it was like eating an oil sponge.  But on the other hand, if someone served it to me, I wouldn’t turn it away. 

My reaction isn’t as stong as this guy’s….I guess I will have to try it again sometime.