What are the three stinks of Anhui cuisine?

The three stinks of Anhui cuisine are stinky tofu, stinky mandarin fish and snail powder.

Why is stinky tofu so smelly? To answer this question, you actually need to use some chemical knowledge. This is because in the process of bean curd fermentation, pickling and post-fermentation, protein contained in it is decomposed by protease, amino acids are fully hydrolyzed, and then a compound called hydrogen sulfide is produced, which is the "hero behind the scenes" of stinky tofu.

In ancient Huizhou, the "bad smell" of stinky mandarin fish came from people's lives.

There were few people in ancient Huizhou, so residents had to leave their homes and travel. The food they need on the road must be air-dried and pickled for easy storage and carrying. Therefore, fetishism has become a major feature of Huizhou cuisine, among which the stinky mandarin fish is the most representative. Clever Huizhou people created a method of cooking mandarin fish, which was pickled and fermented on freshwater mandarin fish.

Siniperca chuatsi stinks because protein, which is rich in fish, decomposes in hot and humid environment, producing horseshoe crab ([SHI]) protein and a small amount of amino acids, so it has a faint odor. But the amino acids in it will inject fresh flavor into the fish, just neutralizing its fishy smell.