Just as tofu tastes like nothing, it also has no smell. Or at least it shouldn’t if it’s fresh! If tofu goes bad it may develop a stinky smell, sour taste and slimy texture. Tofu should be kept in the fridge and once it’s open you should eat it within three to five days and always before the expiry date.
When we were writing we ran into the question “Does tofu smell?”.
Stinky tofu or Chòudòufu (臭豆腐), is a form of fermented tofu and it is this fermented element that appears to give it its stink. How do you eat it? It is boiled up in front of you and is usually served on a wood skewer, or as 6 separate cubes served a polystyrene plate with a tooth pick.
Moreover, what does stinky tofu smell like?
The color varies from the golden, fried Zhejiang-style to the black, typical of Hunan-style stinky tofu. From a distance, the odor of stinky tofu is said to resemble that of rotten garbage or smelly feet.
As tofu has no flavour of its own, adding flavour is vital to make it taste good . Tofu can be flavoured with either a marinade or dry spices. If you use a sauce to add flavour, the best way to flavour tofu is to marinate it in the sauce before cooking.
How can you tell if tofu is bad?
Right away upon opening the plastic package, you can smell the funny (kind of “chemical”-ey, like Clorox, a little bit) smell. After cooking, the tofu tasted stronger than usual: saltier and a little bit tart. My daughter spit it out because it was so different, but I ate it anyway (it wasn’t exactly disgusting – just odd).
Expired tofu will not have a nice egg white color, instead, it will start to have a yellow-ish or brown color. Some may even start to have mold. So, if the tofu has a strange aspect, it’s has probably expired already. Check the smell.
Another thing to note is the color of the water packed with the tofu. If it’s cloudy or turbid, chances are the tofu is way past its expiry date. Don’t take your chances with it.
Did Wang Zhihe invent stinky tofu?
According to a Chinese legend, a scholar named Wang Zhihe (王致和) hailing from Huang Shan in Anhui Province invented stinky tofu during the Qing dynasty.