Qidu Stinky Tofu

Qidu Stinky Tofu

　　Qidu stinky tofu is a specialty food from Qidu Town, Shitai County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province. The dried stinky tofu of Qidu is so delicious that it leaves a lasting impression, which is why it has managed to preserve its "stink" for thousands of years and gain a "stinky" reputation far and wide.

　　Qidu is the abbreviated name for Qidu Town in Shitai County, Chizhou City. As the saying goes: stinky tofu that isn’t smelly and a woman who isn’t pretty are the two greatest imperfections in life. "Jiao" here means beautiful or pretty. By this logic, the men of Qidu Town in Shitai County, Chizhou, are quite fortunate, as the area has long been known for its beautiful women as well as its famous stinky tofu.

　　Legend has it that the creation of stinky tofu came about by accident: some tofu was not sold in time and was forgotten in a corner for a long time. By the time it was discovered, it was too late—the once pure-white tofu had completely gone bad. In fact, such incidents have been repeated countless times throughout human history, all rather unremarkable, and the outcome is always the same: it gets thrown away. But that year, there was a young man from Anhui named Wang Zhihe, who was oddly fond of smelly things. He summoned up the courage to take a bite. And oh, what a bite it was—truly earth-shattering, worthy of being recorded in the annals of history: from then on, China had stinky tofu. As the art of war says, "Placing something in a desperate situation leads to rebirth," and stinky tofu is the perfect embodiment of this principle. Women say the lower you sink, the happier you get, and stinky tofu embodies this spirit perfectly. Women in this world who understand the idea of "smelly before fragrant" or "the greater the stink, the greater the fragrance" must surely be regular stinky tofu eaters.

　　Qidu Town in Shitai County, Chizhou City, is a millennium-old ancient town. It was once a key route through Huizhou Province, and its culinary culture has long been well developed. Today, the local tofu workshops carry on the traditional craftsmanship, producing dried stinky tofu that is entirely black in color. It’s said that dozens of types of traditional Chinese medicine are added to the brine, giving it cooling and detoxifying properties. Locals enjoy eating the stinky tofu with sesame oil during the hot summer months.

　　Stinky tofu with malan head (kalimeris indica) is another way the people of Qidu enjoy their dried stinky tofu. Malan head is a wild vegetable, considered a cut above shepherd’s purse, with a distinct wild aroma. The locals like to mix it with dried stinky tofu to complement its chewy texture and strong stinky flavor. When chopped finely and combined with the tofu, it creates a truly "stinky-delicious" experience.