Hunan · snack
Stinky Tofu (Changsha style)
长沙臭豆腐 · Chángshā Chòu Dòufu
Black-fermented tofu deep-fried, served with a chilli-and-soy dipping sauce. Changsha's iconic street food.
Stinky tofu, Changsha-style, is dark — the tofu is brined in a lacto-fermented brine of mustard greens, bamboo shoots, dried shrimp and salt for several days, turning black on the outside. Deep-fried until the outside is crisp and the inside soft. Served with a dipping sauce of chilli, garlic, fermented black bean and sesame oil. Polarising even within China; the smell is genuinely strong, the taste is much more accessible.
Where to try
Pozi Street in Changsha. Street food carts across central China.
Dietary notes
Soy, fermented.
Cities to try Stinky Tofu (Changsha style)
Other central dishes
- Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork毛氏红烧肉
Hunan-style slow-braised pork belly in soy, Shaoxing wine and chilli — the dish Mao Zedong reportedly ate weekly in Zhongnanhai.
- Doupi (Wuhan Tofu Skin)豆皮
Wuhan breakfast: layered pan-fried tofu skin and rice cake with mushroom, ham and bamboo shoots inside.
- Fish Head with Chopped Chilli剁椒鱼头
A whole silver carp head blanketed with fermented chopped red chilli and steamed until the flesh is silky and fiery.
- Hunan Chilli Fried Pork小炒肉
Thin-sliced pork belly wok-fried with fresh long green chillies and fermented black beans — Hunan's most-ordered everyday dish.