Stinky tofu (chòudòufǔ - 臭豆腐) - Legal in Canada?

[Kentan]

Has anyone seen choudoufu in Vancouver? I heard a rumour that there was a tofu maker on No. 6 Rd in Richmond that used to make it but it has since closed down. And then someone else told me that it's not even legal to sell it in Canada because the fermentation process isn't 'safe'.

Can it be bought here?

[ipsedixit]

I've had it several Taiwanese joints in Vancouver, most notably Dynasty in Richmond.

Also at the Richmon night market there are plenty of vendors hawking stinky tofu and other Taiwanese and Hong Kong street food.

[LotusRapper]

Were they truly stinky a la those in Taiwan ? Cuz when real, they can be detected quite easily 10-15 ft away !

(my mouth is watering .........)

PS: I had some pretty good stinky tofu on the UC Berkeley campus of all places. They have a sizable student population from Taiwan so it's no surprise actually that some of the restaurants off-campus cater to their homesick appetites.

[ipsedixit]

Dunno about Dynasty, but from talking to the vendors at the night market it sure seemed like the tofu was twice fermented and brined etc.

[LotusRapper]

Well now I know where I want to go this weekend's evenings :-D

Thanks ipsedixit !

[fmed]

You can buy it cooked here in restaurants, but I have never seen it uncooked. I too have heard that it is "illegal"....or at least flying under the regulator's radar. (It's probably easy enough to find out by making a few phone calls.)

[fmed]

From here: http://www.targetchinese.com/targetpe...

"In North America, stinky tofu is often "home-made" in the cities with significant number of Asian immigrants; for instance, some Asian tofu factories in Vancouver, Canada would produce stinky tofu underground as side-business to avoid government inspections."

[LotusRapper]

I think a province-wide petitions to Campbell and Harper's gov'ts are in order: "LEGALIZE STINKY TOFU !"

:-D

[fmed]

BTW - Chowhound (I think in the General Topics board) has a number of good discussions re stinky tofu. For the real food geeks - there are links to scientific studies looking at the cooties involved in the fermentation.

[Kentan]

Thanks for all the info - I was thinking of the uncooked version rather than the cooked version of choudoufu. But I'll definitely give the cooked version a try at the Richmond Public Market.

Anyone have any restaurants in Metro Van they'd recommend for choudoufu?

[ipsedixit]

If you brought the uncooked version home and fried it up there, you might have your neighbors sic the local authorities on you ...

:-)

[fmed]

Trying to remember where I have had it in town. I think Sunflower Cafe and perhaps Kalvin's. I'm not an aficionado so I can't really recommend a place.

[LotusRapper]

Sunflower Cafe on Royal Oak ? Would make sense, total Taiwanese/BBT joint. Even their TBN ain't bad, I go there once awhile for lunch during the weekday. Not sure if I want to go back to the office with stinky tofu breath, 'tho ! LOL.