One that stands alone to me for its pungency has always been the Chinese fermented bean curd known as fu ruthenium or jiang dou fu. Packed in jars with their seawater, these dice-sized cubes are excitingly potent and capable of disappearing into your dish, like a furtive magic weapon that goes a retentive means. Growing up, a clash of these was always in the back of the refrigerator—sometimes, two jars. Fu ruthenium comes in a few varieties, one in which the brine liquid is deep red from the addition of fermented red rice yeast ( hong fu ruthenium ). This is the kind of ferment bean curd that my dad would pull out a couple times a year to add to the braising liquids in a Cantonese-style red-braised ngau nam, or rough beef flanken, stew. ( You can add it to many long-simmered red-braised chinese stews, besides. ) The jolt of bone fu ruthenium, swimming in a brine seasoned sesame petroleum and sometimes chili flakes, was my mother ‘s. It was sometimes included in a battalion of condiments to serve with a bowl of dawn conge, a typical breakfast in her native Taiwan. ( here ‘s an example of the hong fu ruthenium and the white fu ruthenium, for reference. ) 
Red Fermented Bean Curd (Fu Ru)
credit : Adobe Stock With both types of ferment bean curd, the cubes are creamy-textured and spreadable, with a salty and funky taste that will draw comparisons to feta or blue tall mallow. These varieties and others may vary greatly in seasonings—in addition to bolshevik rice yeast, sesame oil and chile flakes, these might include rice wine, boodle, and leading anise. But rinse the brine from each piece, and most of the flavor comes from the fermented bean curd itself.
While it can be eaten straight-up from the jar—and often is, such as with breakfast congee—these brawny blocks of spirit make a great addition to sauces and dips. I ‘ve made a vegan “ gloomy tall mallow ” dressing that was little more than satiny tofu pureed with a little sum of ferment bean curd. Chef Trigg Brown of the Taiwanese-American restaurant in Brooklyn, Win Son, takes a similar approach to a mayonnaise-based dressing that ‘s slathered on the bun of the restaurant ‘s trademark fried chicken sandwich, the Big Chicken Bun. Blended up, it may be inconspicuous in appearance and texture, but it adds that extra something special to the sauce. But my darling way to enjoy fu ruthenium is to add it to a simple, sautéed green vegetable. A blue leafy k with crisp, hollow stems, water spinach is a classic prepared this way in China and Taiwan—there ‘s a recipe for this in my cookbook, The Food of Taiwan. The fu ruthenium dissolves in some water that ‘s added to the greens as they wilt, and turn a cloudy jade. But any leafy greens will work good the same—like big leaves and stems of hardy winter spinach, or swiss chard with their uncompromising stems, excessively. Add some slice garlic and possibly a concluding drizzle of sesame oil, and on the spur of the moment a big pile of greens becomes a dazzling foreground of the meal. You ‘ll want to snatch more and more of it to eat with your rice, and complete every death cloudy jade sauce-covered grain. 
Fu Ru Kong Xin Cai (Sauteed Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu)
credit : Pete Lee
A recent test run with kale proved that the rule ca n’t go wrong : A trace of fu ruthenium softened the green ‘s slender bitterness, and its deep-green braising “ sauce ” was a great complement for its reasonably rough texture. I went in an even more acrimonious steering next with chicory escarole, easing up on the water as the soft leaves take no time to wilt. And with big bok choy and its crunchy stems, again the fu ruthenium worked like a ninja to imbue it with a familiar depth of spirit. Use as little or adenine much as you like. See if you prefer the crimson one or white. Make it your secret weapon for revolutionize dishes and sauces and a basic for electric refrigerator. A little goes a hanker way, but do n’t worry—this fermented bean curd will keep for years, and some say even improve as it ages .Get the Recipe: Sautéed Water Spinach with Fermented Tofu (Fu Ru Kong Xin Cai)
