Have you ever eaten stinky tofu? Although stinky tofu smells very bad, some people like it very much, and some people hide after smelling it. If you ask someone who likes stinky tofu why they like it, they will usually say that stinky tofu smells bad but tastes delicious!

If you have ever eaten stinky tofu, you must agree with this statement. But have you ever wondered why? Next, I will tell you why stinky tofu smells bad but tastes delicious. Let’s first talk about why it smells bad.

Stinky tofu is actually fermented ordinary tofu. So what is fermentation?

To put it simply, fermentation is to let bacteria or fungi help us process the tofu first. Don’t be afraid, these bacteria or fungi are not harmful to us. When processing tofu, they break down the protein in the tofu and then produce some chemicals, mainly some sulfides, sulfuric acid and sulfur. Because sulfide is volatile, it is easy to smell and the smell is somewhat pungent. This is the main source of the smell of stinky tofu.

However, when these bacteria or fungi break down proteins, they not only produce unpleasant-smelling sulfides, but they also produce another substance called glutamate. You might think glutamic acid is weird, but But in fact, the chicken essence and MSG used for cooking at home contain a lot of glutamic acid. It is what produces the delicious food we eat.

Since stinky tofu contains a lot of glutamic acid, you should understand why it is delicious. And when we eat stinky tofu, we usually fry it in hot oil first. After high temperature, glutamic acid will become more fragrant.

However, you may ask, isn’t it the bacteria and fungi that cause food to become moldy? So why can stinky tofu be eaten after being fermented by bacteria and fungi?

This is because when we make stinky tofu, we artificially control the degree of bacterial fermentation to prevent complete decomposition of the bacteria. In addition, the bacteria and fungi used to make stinky tofu are specially selected and can be eaten with confidence.

Finally, I would also like to ask you, besides stinky tofu, can you think of any other stinky and delicious food? Think about why. Write your answer in the comment area and share it with us!