Text 20176, 68 rader
Skriven 2007-09-08 20:32:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
Ärende: stinky tofu
===================
I bought a bottle of fermented bean curd in brine with chilies from
Kim's. Wicked nasty fuming tofu. That stuff ought to be banned by the
Geneva Convention lest terrorists get aholt of it and use it for
evil. It combines the worst of durian, Limburger and fish sauce with
tear duct flooding, nostril assaulting noxiousness. It is toxic
waste of unparalleled putridity.

And yet it's strangely appealing.

I speared a little cube of it with a fork and nibbled on it. That
was a big mistake. It was overpowering; the fumes alone made my
throat constrict and my eyes water as the fork approached my mouth.

I then coated a couple of cubes with cornstarch and deep fried them.
The oil was ruined forever. The reduced stench was tolerable until I
bite into a crunchy piece and the fumes spewed out of the molten
interior. Next I mashed a single cube in oil and used it for a LARGE
mixed vegetable stir fry. In that amount it gave everything a
spoiled and pungent but tasty unami flavour.

It was both repulsive and yet ambrosial at the same time: a devil's
dish of hideous delicacy. Do I hate it or love it?  I still don't
know. But after the initial disgust, I was drawn back for successive
tastes, like an addict to crack laced durian.
                              
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Fresh Spinach in Fermented Bean Sauce
 Categories: Chinese, Vegetables, Sauces, Tofu, Chilies
      Yield: 6 servings
 
      2 bn Fresh spinach
      2 tb Peanut oil
      1 sm Dried chili pepper
      1 ts Minced ginger root
    1/3 c  Stock
      1 ts Thin soy sauce
    1/2 ts Sugar
      2    Cubes fermented bean curd
           -with chili
           Cornstarch paste
 
  Preparation:  Slice off root end and half stem of spinach; wash
  completely and drain leaves.  Wash chili pepper. Incidentally,
  double amount of dried chili if using plain fermented bean curd.
  Mash fermented bean curd with thin soy; mix with stock and sugar.
  
  Stir-frying:  Heat wok to very hot; add oil.  When oil just begins
  to smoke, add 1/2 spinach, and toss until it begins to wilt. Push
  wilted spinach up side of wok; add remaining spinach, and toss
  until it wilts. Push all spinach out of bottom of wok; add chili
  and ginger; stir for about 10 seconds. Add liquid ingredients;
  stir; when liquids boils, thicken to medium consistency with
  dribbles of cornstarch paste. Recombine with spinach. Stir to coat
  spinach. Serve. Spinach should remain bright green until you pour
  in liquid.
 
MMMMM
  

Cheers

YK Jim


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