Stinky Tofu @ Spring World

My first experience of tofu, or rather soy protein was in the form of nuggets in a broth. A meatball substitute. I still don't understand this meat subsitute business. As Hazan may have said, when there are thousands of ways to enjoy tofu, why invent tofurkey or soy ribs (boneless)?
Tofu, I'm learning, is wonderful on its own - it doesn't need a disguise to fool me into eating it.
While seeking out sweet fresh tofu I learnt here that tofu comes in a stinky form. So I followed my nose. A Chinese colleague was surprised that I knew of it and confirmed that the ones available at the grocery were not very good. She did mention that if I wanted to try it, Spring World has it.

Since I've read good things about SpringWorld here and EatChicago's site, the possibility of trying stinky tofu was icing. We were there for lunch last week.

My wife and I were shown our table and menus were placed on it. Before I sat down I asked our waitress if they had chaozou tofu (this is of course incorrect but what I remembered from the caption on TonyC's post).
"Ma Po Dofu? Yes, yes we have."
The waitress opened the menu and pointed to the picture.
"No, I mean the deep fried tofu. It has a smell," I countered mildly, not meaning create a stink.
She pointed to another tofu dish on the menu and I decided to not force the issue.

My wife and I kept going over over the menu*. I'm very used to the Szechuan dishes at Lao Szechuan, so I stared at the other menu items for a while. I was still trying to figure out how/what to ask to get this stinky tofu. We decided on a fried rice and the pork ankles (the picture looked nice) and told our waitress.
Just as she was about to walk away, I asked her, "Are sure you don't have STINKY TOFU? You know SMELLY TOFU?" as I held my nose between my forefinger and thumb.
"Aaah! Smelly tofu, Zhao Dofu (IIRC)," she held her nose too. "Yes. You want? OK."

We were served the deep fried tofu first.


There was a slight aroma - nothing I can describe well. Crisp on the outside, soft (and steaming hot!) with a little springiness on the inside with a very full round taste.

I dipped it in the salt/chile flakes and ate it. My mouth was left aglow for a while with the flavour and then with the heat of the chile. I realized on closer inspection that the 'salt' was a mixture of salt and longer crystals - MSG.
I would probably enjoy this more as a teatime snack. It went great with the tea that was served alongside. In fact our second pot had a different tea that was as good or even better that the first very good tea.
I quite enjoyed this new experience. I have no idea if it was a good version or not - I liked it, my wife was ambivalent. [Maybe TonyC and others with experience with this can comment on the merits of this version.] The portion was probably enough for three or four - but that's almost true for most dishes...

Spring World
2109 S. China Pl.
312-326-9966


*We asked for the lunch specials but were told that wasn't offered then. Although people who came in later did get it. Maybe we were early, maybe I should be more insistent.

^ u should be more insistent.

1 of the best things at Spring World is the "chilled stringed trio" (er, not sure what the english translation really is...) offered on the lunch menu "B". they often run out of this early; i had to request it on 3 separate occasions before I actually was allowed to taste it...

Spring World's a great place. I had a fantastic multi-course meal there a few weeks ago that I will post on as soon as I get a transalted menu of what I ate...

I've never had the stinky tofu there, so I cannot comment on it, but I do know one place to easily get stinky tofu. The International Mall, on weekends (and I believe only on weekends). It is at the stand to the right as you enter, the one with the soy milk, fresh donuts. The stinky tofu is not translated on the menu, it is on a little sign by the cash register. Still, if you ask for stinky tofu, they will (almost for sure) know what you mean.

I liked it (a lot). Some days it is stinkier than others. It is served cold with a red chile dressing and plenty of fermented cabbage--the cabbage can be as stinky as the tofu.

As always, there's lots of other good stuff at the International Mall, especially on weekends.

Rob

Spring world is great, especially those "yunannese porcini".

Here's a page with some nice stinky tofu shots

i started to post on issues that i've had obtaining spring world's lunch menu a while ago, and then decided it wasn't worthy of it's own post. but now, i'll weigh in. the last three times i've been to spring world, i wasn't given the lunch menu. each time, they gave it to me after i asked for it. two of those times, single chinese people came in after me, and they were given the lunch menu. but a chinese family came in, and they weren't given the lunch menu. whatever that means. i took it to mean they wanted me to spend more money and thought me to be ignorant of the lunch special.

jblagg wrote:the last three times i've been to spring world, i wasn't given the lunch menu. each time, they gave it to me after i asked for it.

Jblagg,

Funny, I've had exactly the opposite experience. Occasionally I go to Spring World with a small group and we wish to order a larger, more LTH like, lunch than the $3.95 lunch special, which I happen to think is one of the best deals in Chicago. We are typically given the lunch menu and have to ask for the regular dinner menu.

Personally I wouldn't read anything into which menu you were given. Now if you were Shannon, asking for the 'secret' menu at Spoon Thai, that might be a different story.

Rumor has it I gave the cashier a $100 and a picture of Shannon to keep it away from him for 6-months. <just kidding >

Enjoy,
Gary

I walked past Spring World today and was afraid to go in because no one else was in there... I ended up just grocery shopping and satisfied some of my craving by going to a bakery. I sooo want to try the tofu, just not alone!

mby385 wrote:I walked past Spring World today and was afraid to go in because no one else was in there... I ended up just grocery shopping and satisfied some of my craving by going to a bakery. I sooo want to try the tofu, just not alone!

Spring World is a very comfortable and friendly place, don't let this thread scare you. I've been there more than once alone and without any other patrons there. There may be a small language barrier at times but they'll serve you without any problem.

Oh yeah, and they've got some of the best food in Chinatown. Don't pass it up.

Best,
Michael / EC

mby385 wrote:I walked past Spring World today and was afraid to go in because no one else was in there...

MBY,

I echo EatChicago's sentiment, you missed a good lunch at a clean, comfortable, friendly restaurant.

I think we need a new LTHForum motto.

Fear not to tread where the stomach leads. Or something to that effect.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:I echo EatChicago's sentiment, you missed a good lunch at a clean, comfortable, friendly restaurant.

I agree with that; Spring World is a great place...

G Wiv wrote:I think we need a new LTHForum motto.

Fear not to tread where the stomach leads. Or something to that effect.

May I suggest the following:

Per ardua ad alimenta.*

Through adversity to the food(s).

One whole year... wow... It's been (mostly) fun...



Antonius

* This is modelled after the saying Per ardua ad astra, 'Through adversity to the stars', which is also the motto of the US Air Force, I believe.

mby385 wrote:I walked past Spring World today and was afraid to go in because no one else was in there... I ended up just grocery shopping and satisfied some of my craving by going to a bakery. I sooo want to try the tofu, just not alone!

Not that enough encouragement hasn't been expressed already...

The OP was our first trip to Spring World. There was no one else in there. But I'm glad we stepped in - we got to try new items. They were well prepared and tasty and we will go back.

We usually go to Lao Sze Chuan by default and are wary of stepping into a 'new' place, especially if it is empty - but since finding this forum and poring through reviews, exploration is much easier. And much fun. (Thanks LTHers!)
If you have a good experience (or otherwise) - do post.

The Zhao tofu dish itself may be too much for one person and I don't think will reheat well. Hopefully you will tell us

sazerac wrote:There was a slight aroma - nothing I can describe well. Crisp on the outside, soft (and steaming hot!) with a little springiness on the inside with a very full round taste.

LTH,

My experience with Stinky Tofu was similar to Sazerac's, slight aroma, but nothing over the top. I liked the crisp outside, slightly, to my taste, dense interior. I was really surprised, I was expecting strong, as in fermented fish/limburger, but found the Stinky Tofu to be somewhat mild.



On the other hand, Seth, Kerensa and Steve Z, who I had the pleasure of dining with, found the stinky tofu over the top, to point that I was the only one actually eating, and enjoying, the stuff.

Our meal, overall, was quite good with a few, new to me Spring World dishes. Tofu Meat Ball in Special steamed pot was delicious, the tofu meat balls had a mild chicken flavor and the broth was gingery and loaded with ong choi.

Tofu Meat Ball in Special steamed pot


Fried Shrimp w/tofu on a stick was crisp and flavorful, which Seth termed Chinese Corn Dogs. They were served with a Szechuan hot bean paste sauce for dipping, though Seth mentioned he thought the dip was miso based.


We also had Pan fried chicken in red pepper. The bone-in chicken was crisp, though, loaded with dried pepper as it was, was not overly spicy.


We rounded out our meal with (not pictured) Scallion cake, Julienne of jelly fish w/scallion paste, Sliced Beef and Maw Szechuan style and Hand Shredded chicken w/spicy sesame vinaigrette

Another memorable meal at Spring World, both food and company wise, though I was hoping for a little more stink in the stinky tofu.

I should note I've also had Stinky Tofu at the International Mall in Westmont and found it surprisingly mild as well.

Enjoy,
Gary

I would like to note for the record that upon hearing from Gary that he didn't think the Stinky Tofu was that stinky, I immediately advised him to consider scheduling an appointment with a neurologist. Stinky Tofu stinks. The Stinky Tofu we ordered at Spring World stank. At least to me, K and Steve.

It had the waft of an overripe cheese without being sharp or overwhelming, with some rotten fish notes, and a distinct whiff of ferment. The taste was slightly less strong than the smell, but different, bitter and garbagey instead of fishy and rotten. It left a trail of unpleasant flavors all down my gullet, developing as it moved across my tongue and soft palate, leaving distinct unpleasant sensations at each stop along the way.

I tried one hot, and then gave my self ten minutes to recover, and then tried one lukewarm - the smell and flavor got more unpleasant. I am glad to have tried it once, but would not really eat it again.

Yes, I must agree with Seth. There is very little I have ever tried an any Asian restaurant that I don't like. I can now number those dishes at two, the Stinky Tofu at Spring World and the Bamboo Salad at TAC. Both of them will never again enter my mouth.

Seth Zurer wrote:I tried one hot, and then gave my self ten minutes to recover, and then tried one lukewarm - the smell and flavor got more unpleasant. I am glad to have tried it once, but would not really eat it again.

If I don't like something I like to try it again just to make sure the first time wasn't an anomaly. My experience was that it had a mild aroma; morbier is definitely more stinky (but I like that). The first peice of tofu that my wife bit into was very stinky (much much more than the other pieces - I had to finish it for her), even for me. She did have other pieces later that she didn't find too stinky.
I actually thought the textural element - crisp outside and soft inside - was more than the taste of the tofu.

sazerac wrote:I actually thought the textural element - crisp outside and soft inside - was more than the taste of the tofu.

Texturaly, the tofu and shrimp on the stick was pretty much the same as the stinky tofu, however the taste was much better IMHO.

Seth Zurer wrote:It had the waft of an overripe cheese without being sharp or overwhelming, with some rotten fish notes, and a distinct whiff of ferment. The taste was slightly less strong than the smell, but different, bitter and garbagey instead of fishy and rotten. It left a trail of unpleasant flavors all down my gullet, developing as it moved across my tongue and soft palate, leaving distinct unpleasant sensations at each stop along the way.

I tried one hot, and then gave my self ten minutes to recover, and then tried one lukewarm - the smell and flavor got more unpleasant. I am glad to have tried it once, but would not really eat it again.

I can take no sides with regard to the actual stinkiness of stinky tofu but, Seth, your description of the experience is outstanding. Thanks for suffering... and more thanks for writing about it.

A

sazerac wrote:morbier is definitely more stinky (but I like that).

I like that, too! I was ready to like the stinky tofu, and honestly surprised when I didn't. By and large, my track record on trying and liking unusual foodstuffs has been very good and very positive, especially in the company of LTHers - I've grown to love brain empanadas, and brains masala; I've eaten tripe and eye tacos of various stripes, I've consumed a stillpulsing slab of toad fish at Heat, and had its carcass gawk and twitch at me all the while. But stinky tofu ala spring world is one of the few things which gave me that visceral ick.

antonius wrote:your description of the experience is outstanding.

Thanks for the kind words!

heheh... opened a can of stank here...

the fried stinky tofu is not nearly as putrid as the steamed stinky tofu. eater beware. also, from the jpgs the version @ Spring World, i do not feel it was prepared correctly. The entire large square piece of stinky tofu should be fried, then sliced. Not sliecd, then fried. It robs the tofu of its softness/juiciness(obviously).

i'm also surprised by the general disgust by the spring world offering. IMO, there are much more heinous foods out there beyond this tofu... poor tofu now suffering a disreputable name.

Does anyone know the success rate of ordering Stinky Tofu at lunch vs. dinner time? Are these the only 2 places that have it? Spring world and International Mall? Which was "better"? Thanks!