Dai's House of Stinky Tofu has another name in Chinese -- House of Unique Stink. It may sound funny to foreigners who are loathe to try the unique dish, but after visiting Dai's, one may find that stinky tofu really doesn't taste as bad as it smells.
Almost every dish at Dai's is made using stinky tofu. There are the typical tofus; steamed, stir-fried, and grilled, but Dai's is the only place in the world, according to owner Wu Hsu Pi-ying (
Decades ago, stinky tofu was a military staple for soldiers patrolling China's borders. But as Taiwan's night-market culture developed, so did stronger, spicier and more diverse flavors of stinky tofu.
PHOTO: YU SEN-LUN
Unlike most night-market stinky tofu stands where the odor permeates the air, Dai's house is simply a clean, ordinary restaurant with a huge Crouching Tiger poster on the wall.
Film director Lee Ang (
The somewhat freaky cold stinky tofu (涼拌臭豆腐) is actually quite refreshing -- similar to, but milder than blue cheese. With its soft and dense texture, it's served with shredded scallions in a light soy sauce and is recommended as a starter.
The raw tofu adds a new line to Dai's 50-year-old menu and is, according to Wu, the healthiest way to try stinky tofu.
In some places, you really don't want to know how the tofu is made, said Wu. Long ago, some used rotting seafood to ferment the bean curd while others used chemicals. But Dai's products are all vegetarian, using amaranth, mustard leaf, bamboo shoots and more than 10 kinds of Chinese herbs to ferment the bean curd for six months, said Wu.
Pure vegetarianism has turned Dai's stinky tofu into something of an urban legend. Seven years ago, Tsinghua University's (
Fried stinky tofu is the least pungent and therefore more suitable for first-timers. The fried tofu of the house (招牌炸) is Dai's flagship dish and has extra-crispy skin and smooth tofu inside. Try mixing the four sauces into your own blend: soy sauce, garlic and radish pastes and chili sauce.
For solo visitors, the tofu fried noodles with spicy and sour sauce (
Last week, Viola Zhou published a marvelous deep dive into the culture clash between Taiwanese boss mentality and American labor practices at the Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) plant in Arizona in Rest of World. “The American engineers complained of rigid, counterproductive hierarchies at the company,” while the Taiwanese said American workers aren’t dedicated. The article is a delight, but what it is depicting is the clash between a work culture that offers employee autonomy and at least nods at work-life balance, and one that runs on hierarchical discipline enforced by chickenshit. And it runs on chickenshit because chickenshit is a cultural
By far the most jarring of the new appointments for the incoming administration is that of Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) to head the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF). That is a huge demotion for one of the most powerful figures in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Tseng has one of the most impressive resumes in the party. He was very active during the Wild Lily Movement and his generation is now the one taking power. He has served in many of the requisite government, party and elected positions to build out a solid political profile. Elected as mayor of Taoyuan as part of the
Moritz Mieg, 22, lay face down in the rubble, the ground shaking violently beneath him. Boulders crashed down around him, some stones hitting his back. “I just hoped that it would be one big hit and over, because I did not want to be hit nearly to death and then have to slowly die,” the student from Germany tells Taipei Times. MORNING WALK Early on April 3, Mieg set out on a scenic hike through Taroko Gorge in Hualien County (花蓮). It was a fine day for it. Little did he know that the complex intersection of tectonic plates Taiwan sits
When picturing Tainan, what typically comes to mind is charming alleyways, Japanese architecture and world-class cuisine. But look beyond the fray, through stained glass windows and sliding bookcases, and there exists a thriving speakeasy subculture, where innovative mixologists ply their trade, serving exquisite concoctions and unique flavor profiles to rival any city in Taiwan. Speakeasies hail from the prohibition era of 1920s America. When alcohol was outlawed, people took their business to hidden establishments; requiring patrons to use hushed tones — speak easy — to conceal their illegal activities. Nowadays legal, speakeasy bars are simply hidden bars, often found behind bookcases