I've bought a few jars of fermented tofu over the years but I
usually end up just eating a piece or less and the rest thankfully
went bad before I could justify eating another piece(*)

Until I found one that gives you a buzz, too.

Chan Moon Kee brand:
<http://www.myethnicworld.com/p-3851-chan-moon-kee-wet-bean-curd-with-chili-16-oz.aspx>
Ingredients: Soybean, water, salt, wine, chile.

Wine, my ass! This stuff is pure, 400 proof grain alcohol. Eating
a 2ts block of this stuff is like drinking a shot of 151 - but
quicker. You can feel the warm alcohol buzz engulfing you after the
first nibble or two. I don't know what it is... the alcohol fumes
getting up into your sinuses, or maybe the bacteria increases
absorption of the alcohol through the tongue, but it hits you far
quicker than downing a shot. And I'm not exactly a teetotaler, so
if I can feel it, it must be significant.

Or maybe it's not even alcohol. Maybe it's just your body's way of
telling you, "You gotta be stoned to eat this shit". I've eaten a
block or two of this jar on a dozen occasions and the effect is
always the same.

Tastewise, it's fermented tofu - an acquired taste for Westerners.
999 out of 1000 average Americans will not even try it, or try it a
second time. I usually just pluck a piece out of the jar and nibble
on it. I'm too afraid to cook with it. I've tried mixing a block
of it with a cup or so of rice, but every bite is as strong as if it
were pure fermented tofu. But I'm getting used to it now that I've
found a brand that gives me more incentive to eat it ;-)

It's been 20 minutes and I'm starting to come down. Time to go get
another fix.

-sw

(*) To keep fermented tofu, refrigerate after opening and make sure
the "brine" covers the tofu 100%. Look for loosely packed jars(**)
that have enough brine to make that possible.

(**) OK, so there is no such thing as a loosely packed jar of
fermented tofu.