Went viral after appearing in The New York Times — Queuing for 30 minutes to order at Dai’s Stinky Tofu Home

▲ The signature fried stinky tofu at Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia. (Photo /Blogger KK, same below)

Reporter Huang Shiyuan / Taipei reporting

Taiwanese street food has once again made headlines in The New York Times, with this installment featuring "Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia" in Taipei City. Following the article, the number of visitors flocking to the shop has multiplied. Blogger KK (KK Travel World / K's journey) visited Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia last night (22nd), where the wait to order food alone was 30 minutes. KK relayed the owner’s words: “We usually don’t have this many people. It was very busy and exhausting yesterday — we were so swamped we couldn’t even answer phone calls.”

KK said that Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia offers a wide variety of dishes, but their signature item is the “Du Chou San Bao” (Three Treasures of Stinky Tofu), which includes deep-fried, steamed, and cold-mixed stinky tofu. It actually isn’t smelly, but the flavors are truly “unique,” with a faint aroma of traditional Chinese medicine. Having eaten stinky tofu from many places before, this texture was a first for KK, especially the cold-mixed version.


▲ Steamed stinky tofu at Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia.

The signature fried stinky tofu, according to KK, has an exterior that’s rather dry — not crispy as one might expect — giving it more of a fried tofu skin feel. It’s sprinkled with pepper salt and Chinese herbal powder, but the inside is soft and silky, similar to tofu pudding. As for the steamed stinky tofu, KK felt the broth was sweet and also carried a subtle medicinal fragrance, though the tofu itself didn’t seem to absorb much flavor from the soup.


▲ Cold-mixed stinky tofu at Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia.

Finally, the cold-mixed stinky tofu — another first taste experience for KK. He said he’d never had anything like it in his life. Though it’s ranked the highest in “stink level,” it actually doesn’t smell bad. The tofu is topped with plenty of green seaweed powder and drizzled with soy paste. KK noted that the cold tofu leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste as you eat more.

In terms of pricing, the signature fried stinky tofu is 65 NTD, steamed stinky tofu is 60 NTD for a small bowl and 110 NTD for a large bowl, and cold-mixed stinky tofu is 35 NTD per piece or 60 NTD for two. Other items include red-braised stinky tofu (60 NTD), spicy stinky tofu (60 NTD), duck blood stinky tofu (60 NTD), Du Chou Chang Wang (60 NTD), and special Sichuan-style spicy stinky tofu (80 NTD).


▲ Taiwanese stinky tofu makes it to The New York Times, with Wang Dan praising “Taiwanese cuisine going global.” (Photo / Screenshot from Facebook /Wang Dan's Page)


▲ Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia sees a surge in customer visits.

Dai Ji Du Chou Zhi Jia
Address: No. 2, Lane 3, Alley 120, Yongji Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City
Phone: 02-2749-2737