[General] a street vendor selling stinky tofu

[J&K Tutoring]

It's easy to tell which of you have/have not been to China! ;-) I'm reminded of an episode of The Office (American version) in which some unknown person left an unspeakable 'surprise' on the floor in the boss's office. As the team gather 'round to look, smell, and be nauseated, one person comes up behind and says, "Is somebody making soup?"

A Chinese food market is a fascinating amalgam of smells, from wharf to field to barnyard to abattoir (barnyard prevailing) with a localized soupcon of burnt hair or durian fruit or cheap cigarettes. Stinky tofu just elbows its way into your nostrils as you walk by, like everything else.

 

[Silverobama]

If it's known in English as 'stinky tofu' then that's what it should be called. It's appropriate, and many might find it amusing. Perhaps a word or two of explanation might be helpful: "On my way home there was a street vendor under an underpass selling stinky tofu, a rather pungent Chinese delicacy".

I think it was a typo; it should be "overpass".

 

[tedmc]

"Under an overpass" sounds a bit odd. Street vendors are more likely to operate at an underpass which usually serves as a pedestrian passage whereas an overpass is at a higher level, and is usually not meant for pedestrians.

 

[Rover_KE]

'under an overpass' is fine. So is 'in an underpass'.

 

[Tdol]

And there are two kinds of stinky tofu, Jutfrank. The one originated from Hu nan province really smells bad and tastes bad. The other one, which is from Guang dong province, is good!

I had it in Taipei- the stall stank like drain gas, but the tofu was excellent.

 

[bubbha]

I work somewhere where we sell a lot of tofu, both plain and fermented and I've never heard it referred to as "stinky tofu".

It's very popular in Taiwan, as well as in parts of China. It can be found elsewhere. It's generally known as "stinky tofu" (a direct translation from the Chinese) in English. Most Westerners have a hard time getting past the smell, but I (a westerner) absolutely love it.

By the way, "at university" is not normally used in American English. We tend to say "in college" instead. The word "college" is understood to refer to undergraduate studies.