the putrid cat-vomit stench of chou doufu

After 18 months of living here, I now think nothing of people shoving and pushing each other in crowded streets and shops - the night-markets wouldn’t be the same without it. Nonetheless, this type of physical hostility remains a point of contention for many foreigners. There are the irate venturers who protest angrily; the timid and fatigued who avoid busy places; and the offensively ignorant who repeatedly claim the Taiwanese are uncivilized and inhumane. I knew one foreign enthusiast who used to give a good ten minute lecture: “Let me tell you something. I am a NIGERIAN MAN, an AF-RI-CAN MAN. Why do you think you can push me? In Africa, people are not pushing in the street. This is something you need to understand today. I am a MAN … from AFRICA.” I am not one to wage a losing war of such frivolous nature however, and long ago became a convert as many of my friends know. Pushing in the night-markets is one of my favourite pastimes – and I sometimes even go out of my way for a little shoving action!

There is one very serious, lurking danger though ... If you push your way into the wrong crowd you risk getting trapped and then violated, as THE PUTRID CAT-VOMIT STENCH OF STINKY TOFU starts creeping into your nostrils. One deep intake is enough to make your insides curdle. In these moments you can only pray the police will appear and the hundreds of illegal street vendors will disappear into shop storerooms and alleys, clearing the desired escape route. Stinky tofu (known locally as chou doufu), is a night-market favourite made from boiling fermented bean curd. Ever true to its name, in any given moment you can see ‘fresh-off-the-boat’ foreigners, retching in the streets, and frantically trying to cover every facial orifice from its impending onslaught. I have discovered that the best cure is to start voraciously chowing it down; once you’ve sat in the stench for a while, it miraculously seems to normalise. I am still not convinced however it is a great delight, just that its flavour is delightfully bland compared to its odour!


.chowing down some chou doufu at shilin night market