The market · Seasonings and ferments · East Asia

Fermented tofu

Cubes of tofu fermented with a mould, then aged in brine and rice wine until creamy, salty and pungent — China's answer to blue cheese. Also called fermented bean curd or furu.

cheesy · salty · pungent · creamy

What to do with it

Classics built on it
BeijingInstant-boiled muttonPaper-thin slices of raw mutton swished for a moment in plain boiling water, in a chimneyed copper pot over charcoal, then dipped in a rich sesame sauce.No one here has made it yetBeijingBaoduBeef or lamb tripe cut into strips, dipped in boiling water for a few seconds until just crisp, and eaten with a sesame-paste sauce.No one here has made it yet

Kinds

White
Often with chilli and sesame oil; for greens, congee and dips.
Red (nam yu)
Coloured with red yeast rice; for char siu, braised pork and roast meat marinades.
Stinky (chou furu)
Grey-green and ferocious; Beijing eats it with steamed buns.

If you can't find it

Chinese grocers, in jars — white or red.

  1. 1Miso
    White miso with a splash of Shaoxing wine
    You lose the cheesy, boozy depth.

Goes with

water spinachpork bellysesame pasterice congee

Knowing it

Where to buy
Chinese grocers, in jars. Keep the cubes under their brine; once open, they last months in the fridge.
Worth knowing
Mash a cube with a spoon of its brine before it goes in. One cube seasons a plate of greens — taste before adding any other salt.

Kitchens that keep it in

Beijing and the northern plain, northern ChinaBeijingA wheat-and-mutton kitchen of the dry north, salty and savoury with fermented bean pastes, where palace banquets and street snacks grew up side by side.8 classicsYunnan province, south-western ChinaYunnanA kitchen of many peoples, from the edge of the Tibetan plateau down to the tropics: rice noodles and cured ham, wild mushrooms and fresh cheese, and the sour, herb-bright cooking of the Dai.7 classics

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