Friday, October 12, 2007

Photo Hunters - Smelly

If you walk on certain streets in parts of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, you might be hit by a foul smell that makes you want to puke instantly. You would wonder what a terrible state the public toilet must be, that the smell can be so offensive.

Can't imagine the smell ? Think how smelly a widely used public toilet is, when it's not washed for weeks! I have photos of smelly, dirty toilets in China, but I don't want to spoil your appetite for the rest of the week! hehehe......

If you dare to follow the smell to the source, you would see a small roadside stall selling Smelly Tofu (臭豆腐). The tofu is left to ferment for days, sometimes weeks to achieve the required taste.


When I was first offered this delicacy, I had to summon all my courage to take a bite, I almost gagged. It is so so so SMELLY! But surprisingly, when I chew on it, the fragrance of the tofu exploded in my mouth! The more I eat, the more I love it!

There are always long queues at the stalls. It's an acquired taste. People who love it, will go crazy over it. Medium grade Smelly Tofu - colour is darker and tastes great with a specially made chilli sauce.

The King of Smelly Tofu! Look at the colour of the tofu. I cannot take it. It's too SMELLY! My mouth smells foul and would spew dirty words after eating this. hehe....


闻起来臭、吃起来香,有些人对它敬而远之,有些人则将吃它当成了一种嗜好。其实,臭豆腐属于发酵豆制品,制作过程中不仅会产生一定的腐败物质,还容易受到细菌污染,从健康角度考虑,还是少吃为好。   


Well, sometimes it happens. But I'm always being accused ...... because I have lost my sense of smell. sigh..........

What!!? It's not me!!!



73 comments:

  1. In a wide open padang, no one will know whether it was from the cows or you...

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  2. lb,
    Am I also not a cow? I'm bull lah. hahahaha....

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  3. You have courage to put this foul smelling item into your mouth. I know that I would just look, smell, and pass out. I cannot take anything that does not smell good.

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  4. wahliao... the tofu looks really bad! And are you sure your sense of smell is still normal? Hehehehe!

    I won't even touch the tofu no matter how much money I've been given and no matter how delicious it is! You're so brave!

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  5. I also kenot tahan this smell... dun dare try oso... I'll just stick to my liulian :p

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  6. Huwa this is the first time I see the super dark smelly tofu!

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  7. wahhhhh. i was finding high and low for my smelly tofu photos but i just can't remember where i left them. that was a great entry :P

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  8. kakkaka... chao tau fu :D
    i tried the one in Beijing but that one is not that smelly. Wanna tried the authentic smelly taufu.. Curious :D

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  9. wow... i like smelly toufu :P

    i tried it at hong kong and shanghai, and both were delicious!

    actually the fried ones are not so horrible... wait till u try the steamed ones... even i can't take it... T_T

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  10. Ha ha ha, this is similar to the one I'm planning to post tomorrow when it's Saturday over here :-)

    Oh, that smell... *giggles*

    Welcome to our spooktacular blog warming party today - if you dare.... *giggles*

    Everybody is welcome :-)

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  11. I don't look forward to the day when they invent smelly-vision or smelly-computer because with posts like this from you, I don't think I will live another day. :)

    Your flatulence is a silencer is it (the smelliest ever).

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  12. A great post and the tofu does look smelly.
    Sara from farmingfriends

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  13. I never knew tofu gave off such a strong smell before now! You do learn a lot doing the photo hunt! Have a great weekend :-)

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  14. It's hard to imagine something so smelly could taste so nice. Enjoy your weekend.

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  15. The ones in singapore i heard are mild.. :) the ones in taiwan .. and hong kong i tried.. ain't that bad.

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  16. Arhhhh~~smelly tofu! I so like it, would love to take a bit of the King of Smelly Tofu. Hehehe

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  17. ecl I have been trying to come over for the past week, somehow my computer hangs up each time I try to load your page so sadly have to abort half way. :o(
    Dunno watz happen.

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  18. I am sure it is an acquired taste that I will never get used to. I am sooooo picky!
    The Rocky Mountain Retreat

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  19. Your posts are always so funny. This one was no exception. I've eaten tofu in quite a few dishes but I'm never heard of smelly tofu. Learn something new every day. Have a great weekend.

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  20. i eat fried tofu but nothing like this.. it looks icky and yucky (sorry) but sometimes there are food that smells yuck but once you eat it it is so yummy.

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  21. I think I would be to scared to try this....You always have great pics!

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  22. iiks u r a brave woman to eat it. i was told it smells like a corpse

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  23. Aiyooo.. Ths is really smelly~ I tried once in HK, the taste was nice although it's smelly..

    I have done my smelly post.
    http://www.keeyit.com/index.php/2007/10/13/photo-hunter-smelly/

    Happy weekend~

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  24. Hey.. can you send some over? I have been yearning to try some but I missed it when I was in Hong Kong a few years back. I wondered if they have those in Malaysia.

    Psshhhh... where did the smelly stench come from ar?? There should be a law against "bad air" pollution in Singapore too... especially in the house .. haha :P

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  25. I guess the more foul it smells, the better it tastes. We have foods like those in the Philippines, durian and bagoong. Though not as bad as "public toilets not washed for weeks".

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  26. Smelly Tofu stinks!! Yes!!! Tried them once in Hong Kong and I WILL NEVER PUT THAT INTO MY MOUTH, again!! Hehee.. Happy weekend to you (=

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  27. wow ... first time i've heard of smelly tofu! together with a spicy sauce ... i believe i'm "brave" enough to try it out. lol.
    great post!

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  28. wow, that is some interesting tofu!! I'm interested how it tastes. Great post for today!

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  29. super dark smelly tofu ... whoa!
    makes me think twice if i want to taste that! people line up just to buy them? then it must really taste good! or does it? ;)

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  30. ECL I think I will give this a miss, since I doubt I could approach close enough to buy it.

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  31. You know dirty toilets you can find all over the world ! The tofu doesn't look very appetizing, lol, but that doesn't mean anything, oisters are not nice looking either.
    To your question : yes I did the header on my blog myself. Since I discovered how I can do it I would change it every day because it's so much fun ! Imagine the graveyard I made out of a picture I had taken here in my town on the graveyard, lol !

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  32. Very good photos for the smelly theme - the last one is hilarious!! LOL!

    Happy weekend!

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  33. Wow I can only imagine what fermented tofu smells like. I'll stick to the unfermented type! Great photos. I love to looks on your kids' faces! Happy weekend

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  34. That tofu certainly looks like an acquired taste! I will take your word for it that it's smelly!

    My smelly photo.

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  35. Oh my - don't know if I could acquire a taste for that!!!

    Happy Weekend.

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  36. great ideas! The last one?---------too funny.

    Thanks for dropping by my 'smelly' blog.

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  37. Cracker, that is really funny, i suppose if you haven't got a dog the next best excuse is the tofu for any odurs...

    Cheers Mark

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  38. Oh, and I linked to your October category in my related photo hunt post. I couldn't link directly to your latest photo hunt post. Or is there any way to do that?

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  39. Wow thats smelly indeed. Thanks for the comment see you next week.

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  40. your comment
    Peace! No war! I never want to smell war.

    The sad part is that throughout the history of man there has been war, we cannot change that.

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  41. I love that last photo! :)

    So, they look like brownies...although I know they don't taste like them.

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  42. Omigod... by the look of it alone, tofu king sure deserved its title. *faint after smlling it virtually*

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  43. oh, now you've turned me off tofu!


    http://theradula.blogspot.com/2007/10/photohunt-smelly.html

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  44. wooow, fermented food, you know I love it, but mostly tried fermented fish. I hope you'll allow beer and aquavit (Norwegian snaps) to go with it :D

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  45. I think tofu stinks also. Great photos for this weeks theme! Thanks for visiting my hunt photo today!

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  46. Your post reminds me of parts of New York City--the smells of garbage, cooking foods, roasted chestnuts, car emissions all blended together.

    Smelly tofu, huh? Not sure that I could get past the smell.

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  47. This is definitely an acquired taste ... I cant stand it :)

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  48. lol..wonderful story and photo and congratulations on being brave enough to taste it..

    k:))

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  49. Great post - interesting & smelly!

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  50. Thanks for the information, I didn't know about dark tofu.

    Mine is up here.

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  51. The tofu doesn't even appease the eye, let alone want to taste it. If it ferments for days or weeks, can't you get sick from it? Great photos, and had to laugh at the last one,... that was too funny. Have a good weekend.

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  52. That is fascinating--we eat a lot of tofu but I don't think my kids would be willing to try that!

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  53. Hi,
    I received this comment:"Bengbeng, I doubt advertising can pay for such a wonderful review so I would like to thank you by reserving a corporate box seat ticket for you to watch the National Basketball League this Wednesday even though my contest is not yet over.

    Email me your full name and phone number so that I can add you to the guest list."

    Can I pass over this to you? Please contact http://notesfrommyheart.com. if you cant make it, would you please pass it over to someone who might be interested. Thank you.

    Bengbeng

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  54. Aged smelly tofu??? Well I guess it can't be any worse than aged smelly cabbage.

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  55. I tried it once many yrs back.... And I don't think I want to have it again... :)

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  56. oh my goodness.....I don't want to be close in that one .
    Mine is up at My two Cents Worth and
    The 4 Seasons Of My Life I hope you can visit me too.

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  57. To your question if I did my blog Halloween decoration myself, yes I did, I love to change my blog since I learned how to do it (by myself too) last year I couldn't I didn't understand anything of htmls ! If you want to change something in your blog (header, background) I can help you !

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  58. I forgot to tell you that today I take the Cyber Cruise to the home of my friends in Italy which dates from 1462 ! So if you are interested to have a look ....

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  59. ughhh ive just finished lunch now.
    dont want to puke lol
    the black tofu looks sooo interesting and yummy to me!!

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  60. I would need your email address to propose you some header photos and also give you the instructions afterwards on the blog it's not possible !

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  61. For yr ref ECL:

    Hi Bengbeng,

    I would love to give ecl's son your ticket. I believe Nic
    http://highwayoflife.wordpress.com have invited her into his corporate box
    (there are two boxes) so she can come with her son. Just ask her to email me

    their full names and mobile phone number.

    The event is this Wednesday at 7:30pm, Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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  62. urgh, "chow toufu"! I personally haven't smelled it before, thank goodness for that. my mom described it as really smelly wet garbage kinda scent... *bluek*

    not for me... you can have all the smelly tofu! lol!

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  63. i love chow taufu, but the black ones u posted looks TOO deadly to eat :P

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  64. I thought it was smelly because of the garlic... (as my mom told me when I was young)?

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  65. if i've knew the theme of the photo hunt this week, i could have join the fun.

    because i also have a photo of smelly tofu!

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  66. Good photos to go along with the theme :)
    I've not tried it before, I cannot imagine how smelly it can be. I dun think I dare to try leh !! :)

    Janice Ng

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  67. I'm sorry for the late visit.

    I'm fond of tofu but I agree that it's quite smelly at times. :)

    The last one is very funny. Thanks for sharing these photos.

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