According to folk stories, stinky tofu was invented by a person named Wang Zhi He (王致和)in the Qing dynasty. However the versions of the exact story are quite varied.
Soft Stinky tofu:
Because of failing the imperial examination, Wang Zhi He stayed in Beijing and relied on selling tofu to make a living. One day, because of the huge quantity of redundant tofu, he tried to cut the tofu into small cubes and put them into an earthen jar. After several days, he opened up the jar and found out that the tofu had turned greenish and became extremely smelly. He tasted the “stinky greenish tofu” and it was surprisingly delicious. And so he decided to sell those “stinky greenish tofu” as a commodity in his store.
Dried stinky tofu:
During the Kangxi period, Wang Zhi He was a tofu seller as well as a pig feeder. One day, he was making dried tofu with an earthen jar. After he put all the seasonings in the jar, he was distracted by the pigs and forgot to close the lid, and so the white paint on the wall kept falling into the jar. A while later, after Wang Zhi He had settled down all the pigs, the dried tofu had already turned into dried stinky tofu.
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