Xperiments with smelly foods~

Experiment #1:
Stinky tofu? How bad can it be? That was what's on my mind before, not anymore. I tried stinky tofu at an authentic Taiwanese restaurant in Cupertino Village, called A&J. First impression: you can smell it when your order is ready from far far away (yes, it was that stinky) and the smell was more like poop or garbages dump site. The food was delivered at my table then the smell became even stronger. If you smell it pretty close, it doesn't smell that bad though. I encouraged myself to try to eat it and finally I ate it. It tasted just like garbage, but not that bad while I was eating it. The worst part came after I finished them. The smell stayed in my mouth and yes, that bad smell. I will not eat another stinky tofu, ever again. Some people might say it's good but I think otherwise. I like durian, petai (stink bean or Parkia speciosa), jengkol (Pithecolobium lobatum) but I can't eat stinky tofu, period.

Experiment #2:
Nato? What is it? This is a delicacy of Japan. Every Japanese knows this food but some of them don't like it. Nato is fermented beans clustered together and the beans have formed some kind of slimy yet sticky web between them. My understanding of nato is pretty simple, it's a tempeh that hasn't complete fermentation. If you know tempeh, it has white stuff between the beans and I believe the white stuff hasn't formed and hardened in nato. That was my understand but I stand corrected.

My Japanese friend brought some nato and again, I decided to try it. Nato doesn't have any strong smell, unlike stinky tofu. First bite was plain since I didn't put any sauce that came with it. It tasted like coffee beans at first bite, but later it tasted even funnier (I can't desribe what it tasted like). After I put some mustard and sauce (I think it's soy sauce), it tasted better. But the after done eating, taste stayed in my mouth (not that bad compared to stinky tofu). The more I ate, the more I could ate them. I think I need some familiarizing period to become get used to nato. It's not that bad, it tasted unique and original.