Which smells worse - stinky tofu or natto?!
Answers: I've enjoyed eating "stinky tofu" (I don't mind the smell) but I haven't had a chance to try "natto" yet; I'm hearing a lot about its strong smell and am wondering if it is similar to that smell of "stinky tofu"?
Well as a former chef who worked in Japan and still buy both as part of my veg diet, they are both on the same level as far as pungencey, I have had several types of fermented tofu, from bean sauce based, chili garlic to the fish based with shrimp paste, now there is something to use with the windows open, Natto is not so smelly as it is slimey, the active bacteria used to ferment the soya beans tend to make it more viscous than a real funk.
I used to have it on rice with a raw egg when I worked in Japan, it is not something you want to be eating with a hangover even though it is good for you, I buy it on occasion here in Toronto ON Canada, at my fav Japanese grocery store, it runs around $3-4 Cdn for a 6-8 oz tub, if you can managed the fermented (stinky) tofu, then you will be able to handle the natto, just be aware of its texture, and not think it has gone off in the container, like blue cheese and fermented tofu and certain other pungent foods they cannot get any worse.
I am a former chef professionally trained in the military with 28 years experience and I noticed your entry about smells. As a former chef professionally trained in the military with 28 years experience I have developed a nose for food as well as a taste. That comes with the territory when you are a former chef professionally trained in the military with 28 years experience.
First, natto doesn't have a powerful smell. Second, I LIKE the smell of stinky tofu. It's rather the way the smell of the fish market probably is really bad, but it signals to me good food so I like it. I once lived in Japan and ate natto almost daily with maguro and a quail's egg. Um. Good!
There! As a former chef professionally trained in the military with 28 years experience I have imparted to you the worldly knowledge that you may be able to share someday if you become a former chef professionally trained in the military with 28 years experience.
i've been to hong kong and they sell stinky tofu in street vendors bcuz some ppl like to eat it as a sidewalk snack. it smells pretty bad, it smells like a garbage dump 2 blocks away.