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Tasteatlas apparently has never heard of ChauDaufu (Stinky Tofu), a common street hawker dish in southern China, notably Hong Kong. This dish involves marinati

Tasteatlas apparently has never heard of ChauDaufu (Stinky Tofu), a common street hawker dish in southern China, notably Hong Kong. This dish involves marinating tofu in, as one cartoon put it long ago, an extract from the unwashed socks of six soccer teams, then deep frying it. The smell is very close to pig manure. It is so potent that a great many apartments have contracts forbidding it from from being brought into the building. It is hard to overstate how bad it smells. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu

hnfong 4y ago
It's not as common in Hong Kong nowadays. Perhaps due to complaints by neighbors (remember this is a super dense city), in recent years it's hard to find stinky toufu, and even if I find any at all, they don't stink as much as they used to. Some decades ago the stink spread far and wide, multiple blocks at least. It was a great way to advertise when you didn't have internet advertisement. There are probably regional differences as well, the ones I recall having in Taiwan don't stink as much either, probably due to the same reasons. It's worth a try if you come across them. They actually just taste like normal fried toufu.
ElfinTrousers 4y ago
I like to think I'm an adventurous eater. Like many people who like to think that, I've tried stinky tofu exactly once.
yladiz 4y ago
I would say it smells more like hot garbage than manure. But point taken, how is it missing from the list?! It’s surely more “worse” or unappetizing than most of first 50?
pigsty 4y ago
And it tastes incredible with flavors varying from being similar to a pungent blue cheese to a mild and slightly meaty flavor. I’ve found Hunanese tofu to be the mildest despite looking the scariest (it’s completely black tofu), and Taiwanese smells like a literal garbage bag left to ferment in the hot summer sun and the juices burst in your mouth with every bite. Absolutely exquisite. It’s the cheese of the Sinosphere in taste, variety, and smell. Every town has its own style and there’s always one that tastes delicious even if the others are disgusting.
Dowwie 4y ago
Is this like Korean dead body soup?
basch 4y ago
Part of "the worst rated" (emphasis on rated) means the absence of unrated dishes. Ergo, it is the least popular of dishes popular enough to have been rated in the first place.
- account42 4y ago
  Except stinky tofu is popular enough in China and Taiwan - at least among some people. It's not really some weird speciality from one smal town that most would never have heard off. Any decent food tourism guide will at least mention it.
  - basch 4y ago
    And yet, it wasnt rated by this population of people. It's pretty obvious there is some form of significant sampling bias happening here, and that each culture in the world wasn't polled proportionately, or even has the means to travel and try other dishes. This is the worst rated dishes, as rated by this population of voters.
isatty 4y ago
I've had this in various places in China and I've never had it smell/taste as bad as how you describe it. The hostess was even advising me against getting it but it was meh.
archarios 4y ago
I tried this a few years ago at a place in Oakland CA called Spices 3! It was horrid smelling. I didn't know what to expect but I HAD to try "stinky tofu". I gave it the old college try but only ate a few bites. The taste was not bad but I could NOT get over the smell. It was extremely overpowering. I had them take it away at one point.
- gweinberg 4y ago
  I've been to spices 3 many a time, tried some interesting dishes, but never went for the stinky tofu. I did try a spicy intestines appetizer. They should warn you it is served cold. The one dish I really want to try is something called "gangster casserole murder style", but it's some giant thing that I think needs to be shared by at least 4 people, and I haven't been able to find people willing to go in with me on it. It's got blood in it.
system16 4y ago
It's hard to find the real chou doufu in major cities these days. Even the stuff in most night markets is toned down so as not to scare off tourists and piss off the other vendors. I remember the first time I encountered it was in 2000 outside Shenzhen, China (which was mostly a construction site at the time). I literally thought a sewer main had broken.
legerdemain 4y ago
Erm, what? Stinky tofu is just a fermented tofu. Yes, it has a strong smell, but surely you've had fermented or pickled food before? Like, maybe sauerkraut or kimchi? Does a kimchi pickling jar smell any better? It's not some kind of mythological horror food, it's a common and reasonable dish that many normal people enjoy. I've had it as a cold appetizer and as a deep-fried hot appetizer. It's fine both ways.
- SeanLuke 4y ago
  Um. No. Stinky Tofu's smell is so distinct, so awful, and so powerful, it is the subject of numerous scientific studies on that topic alone. Wikipedia notes that "The main volatile compound was indole, which has an intense fecal odor". For example, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6268145/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6268145/ This is nothing like sauerkraut. German towns don't have rules forbidding people from bringing sauerkraut into buildings.
  - legerdemain 4y ago
    Indole is also used in perfumery. "It contains indole" is not a slam dunk argument.
- account42 4y ago
  Sauerkraut and Kimchi (at least the finished product) don't smell bad at all. Stinky tofu does.
- hnfong 4y ago
  If you didn't smell the stink two blocks away from the stall you didn't have authentic stinky toufu. As I mentioned in another comment, I suspect neighbors complaining made it evolve into some milder forms. Even in its mildest form, it's still a much more distinct smell than fermented veggies.
  - legerdemain 4y ago
    I think you're making an argument along the lines that only you are a good judge of correct stinky tofu, and therefore only you can be right. I don't know what to tell you except that I've had it from multiple vendors, and I've seen other people get it there, and no one was gagging, vomiting, or running away from it. It's just a food, no reason to exaggerate.
whermans 4y ago
That stink has been etched into my mind ever since a night ten years ago when I spent an hour waiting for someone at a Shanghai subway station that was within wafting distance of a stinky tofu stand. I still have no idea how that stall owner avoided getting lynched by half the commuters that had to pass through his cloud of putrid miasma.

hnfong 4y ago

It's not as common in Hong Kong nowadays. Perhaps due to complaints by neighbors (remember this is a super dense city), in recent years it's hard to find stinky toufu, and even if I find any at all, they don't stink as much as they used to. Some decades ago the stink spread far and wide, multiple blocks at least. It was a great way to advertise when you didn't have internet advertisement. There are probably regional differences as well, the ones I recall having in Taiwan don't stink as much either, probably due to the same reasons. It's worth a try if you come across them. They actually just taste like normal fried toufu.

ElfinTrousers 4y ago

I like to think I'm an adventurous eater. Like many people who like to think that, I've tried stinky tofu exactly once.

yladiz 4y ago

I would say it smells more like hot garbage than manure. But point taken, how is it missing from the list?! It’s surely more “worse” or unappetizing than most of first 50?

pigsty 4y ago

And it tastes incredible with flavors varying from being similar to a pungent blue cheese to a mild and slightly meaty flavor. I’ve found Hunanese tofu to be the mildest despite looking the scariest (it’s completely black tofu), and Taiwanese smells like a literal garbage bag left to ferment in the hot summer sun and the juices burst in your mouth with every bite. Absolutely exquisite. It’s the cheese of the Sinosphere in taste, variety, and smell. Every town has its own style and there’s always one that tastes delicious even if the others are disgusting.

Dowwie 4y ago

Is this like Korean dead body soup?

basch 4y ago

Part of "the worst rated" (emphasis on rated) means the absence of unrated dishes. Ergo, it is the least popular of dishes popular enough to have been rated in the first place.

account42 4y ago
Except stinky tofu is popular enough in China and Taiwan - at least among some people. It's not really some weird speciality from one smal town that most would never have heard off. Any decent food tourism guide will at least mention it.
- basch 4y ago
  And yet, it wasnt rated by this population of people. It's pretty obvious there is some form of significant sampling bias happening here, and that each culture in the world wasn't polled proportionately, or even has the means to travel and try other dishes. This is the worst rated dishes, as rated by this population of voters.

isatty 4y ago

I've had this in various places in China and I've never had it smell/taste as bad as how you describe it. The hostess was even advising me against getting it but it was meh.

archarios 4y ago

I tried this a few years ago at a place in Oakland CA called Spices 3! It was horrid smelling. I didn't know what to expect but I HAD to try "stinky tofu". I gave it the old college try but only ate a few bites. The taste was not bad but I could NOT get over the smell. It was extremely overpowering. I had them take it away at one point.

gweinberg 4y ago
I've been to spices 3 many a time, tried some interesting dishes, but never went for the stinky tofu. I did try a spicy intestines appetizer. They should warn you it is served cold. The one dish I really want to try is something called "gangster casserole murder style", but it's some giant thing that I think needs to be shared by at least 4 people, and I haven't been able to find people willing to go in with me on it. It's got blood in it.

system16 4y ago

It's hard to find the real chou doufu in major cities these days. Even the stuff in most night markets is toned down so as not to scare off tourists and piss off the other vendors. I remember the first time I encountered it was in 2000 outside Shenzhen, China (which was mostly a construction site at the time). I literally thought a sewer main had broken.

legerdemain 4y ago

Erm, what? Stinky tofu is just a fermented tofu. Yes, it has a strong smell, but surely you've had fermented or pickled food before? Like, maybe sauerkraut or kimchi? Does a kimchi pickling jar smell any better? It's not some kind of mythological horror food, it's a common and reasonable dish that many normal people enjoy. I've had it as a cold appetizer and as a deep-fried hot appetizer. It's fine both ways.

SeanLuke 4y ago
Um. No. Stinky Tofu's smell is so distinct, so awful, and so powerful, it is the subject of numerous scientific studies on that topic alone. Wikipedia notes that "The main volatile compound was indole, which has an intense fecal odor". For example, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6268145/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6268145/ This is nothing like sauerkraut. German towns don't have rules forbidding people from bringing sauerkraut into buildings.
- legerdemain 4y ago
  Indole is also used in perfumery. "It contains indole" is not a slam dunk argument.
account42 4y ago
Sauerkraut and Kimchi (at least the finished product) don't smell bad at all. Stinky tofu does.
hnfong 4y ago
If you didn't smell the stink two blocks away from the stall you didn't have authentic stinky toufu. As I mentioned in another comment, I suspect neighbors complaining made it evolve into some milder forms. Even in its mildest form, it's still a much more distinct smell than fermented veggies.
- legerdemain 4y ago
  I think you're making an argument along the lines that only you are a good judge of correct stinky tofu, and therefore only you can be right. I don't know what to tell you except that I've had it from multiple vendors, and I've seen other people get it there, and no one was gagging, vomiting, or running away from it. It's just a food, no reason to exaggerate.

whermans 4y ago

That stink has been etched into my mind ever since a night ten years ago when I spent an hour waiting for someone at a Shanghai subway station that was within wafting distance of a stinky tofu stand. I still have no idea how that stall owner avoided getting lynched by half the commuters that had to pass through his cloud of putrid miasma.