Yesterday, while at the Ningxia night market, I worked up the courage to try stinky tofu. I found a vendor who was working on a big grill surface and brushing sauce onto skewered fried stinky tofu. The smell was much more mild than many of the other stalls I’d walked past, and she’d serve it up to me with Taiwanese kimchee. I figured it was my best shot at liking this classic dish.
The good news is that the tofu was hot, with a nice sauce and the outside was nicely fried. The kimchi was mild. Overall, it was a much more pleasant experience than I feared. But I confess that I didn’t actually like it. The tofu didn’t smell all that stinky, but it tasted stinky.
This may be an experience you want to have to say you’ve tried it, but I think it is challenging for a western palate.