The New York Times
Date: Nov. 19, 2017
By: Chris Horton
TAIPEI, Taiwan — In a small, unassuming building below the growing skyline of
The Dai Family House of Unique Stink in Taipei, Taiwan, has cultivated a following among aficionados of stinky tofu. Credit: An Rong Xu for The New York Times
Taipei’s Xinyi District, Wu Hsu Pi-ying has built a shrine to stink, attracting the faithful from far and wide.
Since 1989, Dai Family House of Unique Stink has cultivated a following among aficionados of one of Taiwan’s most prevalent, and most pungent, snacks: stinky tofu.
“We’re happy,” Ms. Wu said, sitting on a low stool at her restaurant. “We give people healthy, natural food, and it’s super cheap.” Menu items range from 50 cents to $3. “I don’t need to make a lot of money.”
A fermented bean curd that came via immigrants from mainland China, stinky tofu has long been a staple in Taiwan. A versatile food, it can be fried, steamed or cooked in soup, all of which are on the menu at Dai’s. Ms. Wu also pioneered cold stinky tofu, which is served covered with crispy flakes of seaweed-flavored batter, the edges of the tofu slab a bluish-gray. [FULL STORY]
