What is the difference between old bad tofu and stinky tofu?

It all smells awful, tastes like crap and looks like a bowl of dog puke...sorry

Stinky tofu is basically pickled/fermented in brine. You throw the stuff into a pot with a salty solution, add some shrimp and veggies, and wait for the bacteria to make it have that lacy texture you get on stinky tofu.

Fry it up and there you go.

Well, stinky tofu has been fermented, just like miso, natto, or tempeh is fermented.

I really like the stuff. The first time I saw it at my Chinese friend's house... uuuug what the hell is that... don't eat that.. it's rotten...!! You're going to kill yourself.

But I learnt that there are all sorts of different kinds of this fermented stinky tofu... some reek like blue cheese, some are very sweet and taste more like shiro miso, others are fermented in wine... there are literally hundreds of different kinds and they all have their own flavours and textures.

Tofu is a bean curd and a soft food with no distinctive flavor made from coagulated soybean extract pressed into a cake. Paneer is a South Asia curd cheese used in cooking and a curd cheese used especially as an ingredient in cooking. Paneer is a good diet meal.

"Stinky" bean curd (tofu is just the Japanese name for soybean curd. It has different names in different countries of origin.) is fermented. It is allowed to ferment like cheese and is totally edible. Its definitely an acquired taste and not for everybody. It is a much sought after delicacy in some Asian countries but mostly found in China.

Um... stinky tofu? I haven't heard of that. Tofu doesn't smell like much of anything when it's fresh... just a mild, slightly earthy-green smell. Or it smells like the packaging.

Fresh (non spoiled) tofu has no odor. If it's stinky, it's old/bad.

They've both gone bad.