My Attempt At Stinky Tofu

Ohhhhh, veggie sludge!

My Attempt At Stinky Tofu

There are 2 different versions of Stinky Tofu, One which is fermented in an almost black, soup of fermenting rotten veggies, and one fermented in pureed soft tofu, salt and salted shrimps.

So the recipe (I use that term loosely) I found on the net, had no measurements and very loose directions.

So I pureed the following

Mustard Leaves
Amaranth Leaves
Bamboo Shoots
Ginger
Salted Shrimps
Salt
Water

split the mixture into 2 containers, added a packet of champagne yeast (speeds up the process) to one and kept the other plain and waited the allotted 1 week for fermentation.

Opened up the both of them a week later to sniff them.

Although the yeasted one (on the right) separated and had bubbles, they both still smelled like FRESH VEGGIES!

And its now been 1 month and they still smell of FRESH VEGGIES!

The plain one has never bubbled or anything.
I thought it'd be the same fermentation process as Kimchi, but I guess not.

So Im tossing them out and Ill try the other recipe.

I think I used too much salt and instead of the salt pulling out some juice from the veggies, allowing the juice to ferment, it overpowered the whole thing and killed all the bacteria and yeasts and without bacteria and yeasts, no fermentation happens...

^^^^The white stinky tofu brine

So I made the white brine for stinky tofu 2 days ago.
I pureed a block of soft tofu with 2 t salt and about 2 T salted shrimp

Directions online tell me to let it sit for 3 days then put a block of tofu in it and let it sit 5 days.
HOWEVER, as you see the brine has a layer of neon pink mold or something and it has tons of fermentation bubbles.

SCARY!

I looked online to see what Stinky Tofu tastes like.
Everyone says it is sweet and mild and creamy like a good Brie cheese.
WOW!, I always thought Stinky Tofu was sour like kimchi.

Honestly?
Im no longer interested in making Stinky Tofu if it tastes like Brie and making it is scary.
I mean NEON PINK BACTERIAL SLUDGE FLOATING ON TOP!!!!!
Frightening!

So unless I can find a reputable clean Taiwanese restaurant who sells it, I wont ever try it.