Debunking Stinky Tofu
I’ll be honest. I’m tired of talking about stinky tofu like I’m tired of talking about night markets. There are certain tropes about Taiwanese food that persist over the years and stinky tofu is one of them. And I get it. It’s alluring because it is an enigma. It’s a convenient icebreaker, a polarizing love-it-or-hate-it item.
Most people have no idea that the stink in stinky tofu isn’t actually derived from the tofu. The malodorous odor comes from fermented amaranth—a perennial weed native to the Americas (ikr?).
Basically, you cover the amaranth with water and a bit of salt (1-2% salt brine), and let that sit for a month or two. The amaranth brine creates that signature funk. You strain it and then soak the tofu in it for a couple of days.
My recipe for stinky tofu is in my cookbook (and updated, below) and features a minimalistic, amaranth-centric brine. Many vendors will bulk it up with some mustard greens, cabbage, shrimp shells, bamboo shoots, but the classic most basic flavor is just amaranth. Flavor-wise, I believe my recipe hits all the right notes. The only dimension I couldn’t quite figure out was the texture of the tofu. I used a medium-firm tofu in the book recipe, which was okay and passable, but admittedly, it doesn’t have that signature porosity that is typical of commercial renditions.
After my book was published, I met Sean Chen, a master Taiwanese fermenter, who told me that the secret to achieving the perfect texture in stinky tofu is to use…