What Is เต้าฮู่ยี้ In English?

[GarryP]

What is เต้าฮู่ยี้ in English? I know what the product is and how it is used, but I have no idea of the correct English translation or equivalent. Can anyone help?

[SoftWater]

What is เต้าฮู่ยี้ in English? I know what the product is and how it is used, but I have no idea of the correct English translation or equivalent. Can anyone help?

pickled bean curd, apparently.

Kudos to Glenn's dictionary at thai-language.com - it was the only online dictionary that gave me an answer. I did like Google translator's answer though 'yahoo breast dam_n'. Right away, I suspected that something was not right about it...

(for the record, i searched in Lexitron, Nontri, Hope Studio, Haas TDP, Google Translator, Bing & Thai2English, and finally, thai-language.com)

Edited October 16, 2009 by SoftWater

[Gary A]

My wife says it is a smelly seasoning most likely made from fermented bean curd. She says it is used like Palah and the Chinese like it.

[yoot]

As far as I know, it's called "fermented bean curd".

[Rikker]

Other alternatives: "fermented tofu", "aged tofu".

Also, it should be spelled เต้าหู้ยี้.

[SoftWater]

Other alternatives: "fermented tofu", "aged tofu".

Also, it should be spelled เต้าหู้ยี้.

Well done, Rikker. With this spelling, all the aforementioned dictionaries give the same answer ('pickled bean curd') EXCEPT Bing (which gives no answer) and Glenn's, which doesn't recognise this spelling itself , but does give a Thai->Thai definition from RID: อาหารเค็มของจีน ทำด้วยเต้าหู้ขาวหมัก

Checking my print dictionary using Rikker's spelling, we do get "fermented tofu/bean curd".

Since 'fermented' doesn't quite mean the same as 'pickled', and assuming the TV posters are correct that 'fermented' is the more accurate answer, I can only conclude that I'd better stop being lazy and go back to using my paper-based dictionaries in future.

[DavidHouston]

And, เต้าหู้ยี้ is the primary ingredient in MK Restaurant's Suki-yaki sauce!

[Johpa]

Fermented tofu. One of the oldest referenced prepared food items within Chinese culture. One use to be able to find homemade varieties sold out of homes in simple earthenware jars up north where there is a larger Haw population. It can be very pungent, quite potent, and terribly addictive. I confess, I love the stuff. It is commonly added to a morning bowl of khao tom, boiled rice porridge.

I believe the "yii" refers to second in that it is the second formulation of the tofu after having been fermented or aged, or pickled or whatever you want to call the process that turns rather bland tofu into fireworks.

[mangkorn]

I believe the "yii" refers to second in that it is the second formulation of the tofu after having been fermented or aged, or pickled or whatever you want to call the process that turns rather bland tofu into fireworks.

If it's a Chinese word, you may be right. On the other hand, here is an interesting entry in the RID:

ยี้ [อุทาน] - คำที่เปล่งออกมาแสดงอาการรังเกียจสิ่งใดสิ่งหนึ่งเป็นต้น เช่น ยี้! เสื้อสกปรกอย่างนี้ยังจะเอามาให้อีก, อี๊ ก็ว่า

That might be someone's reaction to those fireworks you describe...

[GarryP]

Just goes to show. I mentioned that I could not write Thai in a previous post so I asked a Thai secretary to spell it for me. Thanks for the help.

[sabaijai]

The most essential ingredient in เย็นตาโฟ (yen-ta-fo)