About Fermented Tofu Carbonara
Fermented Tofu Carbonara is one of the dishes made by the newer generation of Hong Kong people. People that live in the time where Hong Kong is deeply connected with the outside world and learned about different cultures. This is one of my favourite fusion dishes made in recent years that has gained popularity amongst foodies here.
I remember first hearing about this dish from a place in Kowloon city called Nan Kok. If you don’t know, Kowloon city is next to where the infamous Kowloon walled city used to be. It is a very lively neighbourhood filled with traditional shops selling things such as dried goods and Chinese groceries. I would compare this area of Hong Kong as Hong Kong’s Chinatown. I know this sounds kind of weird but it really gives me this feeling. Besides this, Kowloon city is also known for their Thai Food, which are businesses run by the population of Thai Immigrants that live in the area.
Nan Kok is a restaurant that strikes a chord within my heart. It is built in a revitalized pawn shop in the area, and it keeps a lot of it’s history within the restaurant. What I like the most is that Nan Kok tries it’s best to use ingredients sourced in the Kowloon City Area, and I think this is a beautiful sight to see in the highly commericalized Hong Kong market.
The signature dish of this restaurant is the Fermented Tofu Carbonara. If you are unfamiliar with Fermented Tofu, you can treat it as the Chinese equivalent of cheese, made by fermenting tofu. The main ones are the White fermented tofu, called Fu-Yu, or the Red fermented tofu, called Nam-Yu. Both of these give a funky taste, with intense umami. The white one is the stronger of the two, and it is usually paired with squid, vegetables or as a dipping sauce to bring flavour. This is the one that we will be using for this recipe.
Like a lot of the Carbonaras in the world, this pasta is made with cream. So in a sense, it is an Americanized version of Carbonara, which is also the version of Carbonara that most Hong Kong people associate with. But if it makes you feel better, Nan Kok has since changed it’s name to Creamy Fermented Tofu Pasta.