Kitchen Attempts

I consider myself to be quite the daredevil when it comes to eating. I will try anything once, especially when I’m in a foreign place and presented with a rare food experience. I think I’ve tried most of Manila’s street food, but I have to admit that I am very afraid of trying Betamax – chicken blood, skewered and grilled. I love dinuguan – a pork blood stew, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to eat chunks of grilled blood.

Stinky(est) Tofu ever. I had to finish all of this to get an iPad.

But I love a good challenge. One day, my sister and her brother in law mentioned this place that served something called Stinky Tofu and talked about how offensive it’s smell was. I couldn’t imagine anything that offensive to the point of being inedible. What could be worse that our bagoong or balo balo, which I both love? So I asked them to take me so I could get a whiff of that infamous tofu. I arrogantly went up to Boiling Point’s door, a very unassuming restaurant, already filling up with regulars. I opened the door and was immediately overcome with this horrid stench that I didn’t even realize how quickly I let go of the door. I couldn’t get away from the smell fast enough and just had to laugh. It was bad. That was my first encounter with Stinky Tofu.

Boiling Point, Hacienda Heights

A lot of stupid bets occur in my family, and I mean STUPID. After my first encounter with the stinky tofu restaurant, I was even more challenged and voiced out that I could probably psych myself into eating it. All I had to do was overcome the smell. So my brother in law made a bet with me, that if I finished a serving of the stinky tofu house special, he would get me an iPad. If I lost, I’d have to get a Lakers tattoo (because my brother in law is probably the biggest Lakers fan). So, it was game on.

This is what happened on that day.

The verdict – no iPad. Only scarred taste buds that couldn’t seem to shake off the most undesirable flavors combined. I’d describe how it tasted like but I’m afraid I might offend people who actually enjoy eating stinky tofu. I will probably never acquire a taste for this but would still recommend people to try it at least once. After that, everything will taste like rib eye steak. 😛