A renowned Shaoxing street snack: firm pressed tofu steeped in the amaranth-stalk fermenting brine until it takes on the funk, then deep-fried golden. Unlike the inky-black Changsha kind, Shaoxing's tofu fries up a warm golden brown, with a crisp shell and a soft, steaming, juicy interior. It is served hot with chili sauce, soy, or sweet bean sauce. Pungent at the nose but savory on the tongue, it belongs to the famous "three funks of Shaoxing" and is a cornerstone of the region's beloved tradition of fermented, funky-savory foods.
Stinky tofu in Shaoxing is one branch of a whole local culture of fermented foods. Shaoxing people have a long fondness for "moldy" things — 霉干菜 (dried mustard greens), 霉千张 (moldy tofu sheets), 霉毛豆 (moldy soybeans) — and at the head of them sits 霉苋菜梗, fermented amaranth stalks, recorded as far back as the Qing-dynasty Shaoxing gazetteer 《越谚》 as a steamed "three-funk" staple of the seventh and eighth lunar months. The cloudy brine thrown off by fermenting amaranth stalks — the 苋菜梗卤 — is the shared "mother brine" of the whole system: steep tofu in it and you get stinky tofu; steep tofu sheets and you get 霉千张. Together 臭豆腐, 霉千张 and 霉苋菜梗 are called the "three funks of Shaoxing" (绍兴三臭). This amaranth-brine lineage is what sets the Shaoxing style apart from Changsha's black, fermented-black-bean version and from the Hong Kong style.
The smell hits first — sharp, cheesy, a little barnyard — and then the taste turns the whole thing around: deeply savory, almost meaty, with none of the harshness the nose promised. The shell crackles thin and crisp; bite through and the inside is soft and molten-hot, releasing a little juice. Chili sauce or soy lands on top with salt and edge. "Smells stinky, eats fragrant" (闻着臭吃着香) is the whole point.
The funk is chemistry. In the amaranth-stalk brine, microbes secrete proteases that break tofu's protein into peptides and amino acids; the sulfur-bearing amino acids degrade further into volatile sulfur compounds — hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl di- and trisulfide — plus indole (the same molecule behind fecal odor), and these tiny, intensely smelly molecules are what the nose recoils from. But the same proteolysis liberates free glutamate, the savory amino acid behind MSG — so the tongue reads umami, not stink. Deep-frying at a medium oil temperature (around 150 °C, "five-tenths hot") does two more things: the surface protein dehydrates and sets into a crisp crust while the core retains water and stays soft and hot (外脆里嫩), and the high heat both flashes off some of the volatile stink and drives Maillard browning between amino acids and sugars, so the smell drops and the savory aroma rises.
Variations
The defining axis is the brine and the resulting color. Shaoxing tofu is steeped in amaranth-stalk brine and fries golden; Changsha's is steeped in a black brine built on Liuyang fermented black beans and comes out inky black with a hollow center, dressed in chili oil; the Hong Kong street style is its own thing, fried pale and eaten with hoisin and chili. Even within Shaoxing, steeping time is seasonal — roughly half a day in summer heat, up to a couple of days in winter — and households argue over how funky to let it get. The accompaniments shift too: chili sauce, soy, or sweet bean sauce, to taste.
On the Palate
Where Shaoxing Fried Stinky Tofu sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
7 steps · 20 min
- 15 min
Cut firm pressed tofu into roughly 2.5 cm cubes.
- 2360 min
Steep the cubes fully submerged in amaranth-stalk stinky brine — about half a day in summer, up to two days in cold weather — until they take on the funk.
Watch outSteep until the cubes take on the full funk right through — under-steeped tofu tastes plain and never develops that savory-behind-the-stink flavor.
- 33 min
Lift the tofu out, rinse gently in clean water, and pat dry.
- 43 min
Heat oil to medium, around 150 °C ("five-tenths hot").
- 55 min
Slip in the tofu in batches and deep-fry, turning, until the shell is crisp and golden brown and the inside is hot and soft.
Watch outFry at a medium heat until the shell crisps golden while the inside stays soft and hot — too hot and the crust burns before the middle warms through.
- 61 min
Drain on a rack.
- 71 min
Serve hot, dressed or dipped with chili sauce, soy sauce, or sweet bean sauce.
