How to cook mapo tofu and its mapo tofu recipe

Mapo tofu, is a traditional and popular dish in Sichuan cuisine of China, one of the main ingredients is tofu, and the auxiliary materials are garlic sprouts and minced beef (other meats can also be used). 

During the late Qing Dynasty, there was a small restaurant next to the Wanfu Bridge wharf in Chengdu. It was said that the owner, Mrs. Wen Qiaoqiao, was fair-skinned and pretty, but her husband, Chen Chunfu, had a face full of pockmarks, so the neighbors called him "Chen Mazzi" (Pockmarked Chen). Wen Qiaoqiao was Chen Mazzi's wife, and everyone jokingly called her "Chen Mapo." Later, Mapo tofu became famous, and everyone named this dish "Mapo Tofu" after Mrs. Chen Mapo.

The "ma" flavor is from Sichuan pepper, and the "la" flavor is from chili powder. The dish is hot, fresh, fragrant, crispy, tender, and crispy, fully demonstrating the characteristics of Sichuan spicy cuisine. Nowadays, Mapo tofu has crossed the ocean, and settled in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, and other countries, from a simple home-cooked dish to an international delicacy.

Ingredients:

Sichuan peppercorn powder, yellow wine, salt, monosodium glutamate, ginger, garlic, cilantro, scallions, oil, tofu, ground meat, beef jerky/fresh pork, Szechuan peppercorns, chili peppers, fermented black beans, spicy bean paste, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, starch, sugar, potato starch.

Step 1.  Clean the pot, add Sichuan peppercorns, stir-fry over low heat.

Step 2. Stir-fry until fragrant, and when the shells are slightly scorched, pour them onto a cutting board and crush them with a rolling pin.

Step 3. Cut the tofu into pieces and soak in salted boiling water for 15 minutes.

Step 4.  Heat up the pot, add an appropriate amount of oil, and stir-fry the minced ginger and garlic.

Step 5. After stir-frying until fragrant, add the chopped spicy bean paste and fermented black beans, and continue to stir-fry. 

Step 6. Once the aroma comes out, add in the ground meat and stir-fry.

Step 7. After the beef filling is stir-fried until it changes color, add cooking wine and light soy sauce to stir-fry until colored, then add an appropriate amount of water.

Step 8. Once boiled, add in the tofu pieces that have been soaked in salt water.

Step 9. Stew for one minute, then add an appropriate amount of salt.

Step 10. Then add water and starch to thicken the sauce.

Step 11. After the sauce is thickened to the appropriate consistency, pour it into a bowl and sprinkle Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions on the surface.

Step 12. Heat a small amount of oil and pour it over the Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions.

Step 13. Finally, serve hot on the table, before eating, give it another stir.