Instant Vegetable Pickle, Deep Fried Stinky Tofu, and Golden Tofu, Part 1 of 2

We’ll prepare to deep fry some special tofu. In China, they call it – we also have it in Taiwan (Formosa) and Hong Kong – they call it “stinky tofu.” It stinks but it’s delicious, and it’s very good for digestion and everything.

Before frying the tofu, we’ll make the sour accompaniment. Here, I have green bell pepper, red bell pepper, a cucumber, and yellow bell pepper. We can slice this thin and mix them together. There is no rule as to how thin. As thin as you think is proper for a quick pickle, immediate pickle. About this thin is fine. Be careful when you chop. You don’t have to be so fast if you’re not used to it. Always keep the knife outward like this, and then it won’t hurt your fingers.

Now, all we do is put a little vinegar – any kind of vinegar; this one is balsamic – a little bit of vinegar or lemon, and then a little bit of salt, like half a teaspoon or a teaspoon of salt in there. And you put a little bit of fruit sugar. Then add a little bit of hot, boiled water for a quick effect of an immediate pickle. Mix it up well and leave it there. We’re going to serve it together with the stinky tofu, or/and ordinary tofu. We have to make the pickle first so that it will be more marinated until we eat. This is an instant pickle. It’s not too sour. It’s just very mellow and fine.

Often, this kind of stinky tofu, when it’s done, it will float up onto the surface of the oil, so then you know it’s done. Otherwise, when you see both sides are golden, then it’s fine already. You can buy this stinky tofu in Chinese shops. And if you don’t have stinky tofu, it’s fine. But, I’m warning you, this is really stinky. After you eat it, you better go and clean your teeth and rinse your mouth quickly. It’s better you don’t have a very high heat so that the inside of the tofu is also cooked, and the outside, crispy. Not just the outside too brown and the inside not cooked.

I was in Taiwan (Formosa), and I didn’t like it at all because whenever I passed by a stinky tofu stand, it smelled so bad that I ran away. Then, later one day, I was kind of hungry and there was nothing to eat, and one of my Taiwanese (Formosan) attendants brought it to me to eat with pickles, and it was so delicious I’ve been hooked ever since. I don’t have to eat it, but if I have it, I like it.