Tuesday, April 10, 2012

 

Amanda Russell Loves Stinky Tofu?

Amanda Lee Baker-Smith-LaChance-Petite is an American teacher in south Taiwan. She tells the Yunlin Post newspaper:

Dear Editor:


I want to tell you why I love cho dofu. I'd seen Western friends try it, and their reactions were enough to warn me against it. But my Taiwanese students and their mothers were joyfully and noisily leading me to the cho dofu stand, the stand where square, golden slices of stinky tofu fried in vats.
We sat at small adjacent tables, and I could smell it; I joked with the kids that it smelled great. They all vehemently agreed, the moms smiled, and I continued my kudos. Soon, the plates of fried stinky tofu arrived.


I negotiated with Jack, one of the oldest students. We agreed that I would eat one full piece. He and I shook hands, and I stared at the food, searching for the smallest piece. It was delicious. Really. I don't know why Westererns, to a man, are afraid of eating this. It's yummy.


The first bite was small, and while I made ugly faces to amuse the kids, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was good. Several minutes later, I had my second bite. It, too, was fine. Dipped in a red sauce, there was a hint of the stinky scent, but overall it was flavorless and just a very strange texture in my mouth. I started to think I was somehow cheating; this was stinky tofu, but it wasn't SUPER stinky tofu. Was I getting the real experience?


Only a little tofu was left, what amounted to two small bites or one big bite. I decided to get it over with and put the entire piece in my mouth. Very quickly, I did it. Oishii! Delicious! I passed the test with
flying aromas!


Sunny, Jack's mom, grinned at me from across the table. “Do you like it?” she asked.


“Fantastic!" I said. Sunny laughed. “You are not a normal foreigner. You have guts and you are not afraid to eat our local food and love it. Bravo!"

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/eye-on-taiwan/2012/04/10/337375/When-all.htm
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?