麻婆豆腐
má pó dòu fǔ maa4 po4 dau6 fu6
Named for the pock-marked grandmother (麻婆) who ran a Chengdu eatery in the 1860s. It teaches the signature Sichuan sensation 麻辣 — the numbing buzz of Sichuan pepper under the heat of chili bean paste.
The story behind it
Chen Mapo’s shop near Chengdu’s Wanfu bridge fed porters and oil peddlers in the 1860s; her pock-marked face gave the dish its name. It is the textbook example of Sichuan’s 麻辣 flavour profile, and the word 麻 (numbing) is one every visitor to Chengdu learns within a day.
Ingredients
- 400 g soft tofu, cubed
- 100 g ground beef or pork
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang (chili bean paste)
- 1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp ginger, 2 spring onions
- 150 ml stock + 1 tsp cornstarch slurry
Steps
- Blanch tofu cubes in salted water; drain gently.
- Fry the meat crisp; add doubanjiang, garlic and ginger until the oil turns red.
- Add stock and tofu; simmer 3 minutes without stirring hard.
- Thicken with slurry, slide onto a plate, dust generously with Sichuan pepper.