Mapo Tofu

Overview

Mapo Tofu is a famous product in Sichuan cuisine, one of the eight major Chinese cuisines. The main raw material is tofu, which is characterized by spicy, spicy, hot, fragrant, crispy, tender, fresh and lively, which is called the eight-character motto. The main ingredients include tofu, minced beef (pork can also be used), chili and Sichuan peppercorns, etc. The numbness comes from Sichuan peppercorns and the spiciness comes from chili peppers. This dish highlights the spicy characteristics of Sichuan cuisine. This dish was created around the early years of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (after 1874) by Chen Liu, the proprietress of a small restaurant called Chen Xingsheng Restaurant in Wanfuqiao, a northern suburb of Chengdu. Because Chen Liu had pockmarks on her face, she was known as Chen Mapo, and the roasted tofu she invented was called Chen Mapo Tofu.

Tags

• vegetarian dishes
• beef
• chili
• cooking wine
• doubanjiang
• garlic
• light soy sauce
• tofu
• zanthoxylum bungeanum
• chopped green onion
• ginger
• pepper

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 Prepare the raw materials;

   

2. 2 Cut the tofu into small pieces and set aside;

   

3. 3 Sprinkle a little salt on the minced meat, pour an appropriate amount of cooking wine and pepper, and marinate;

   

4. 4 Pour water into the pot, sprinkle with a little salt and bring to a boil. Add the tofu cubes and blanch them. This will prevent them from breaking easily during the frying process and make the tofu tender and refreshing;

   

5. 5 Remove the blanched tofu and drain;

   

6. 6 Pour an appropriate amount of oil into the pot. When the oil temperature is about 60% hot, stir-fry 2 tablespoons of Pixian red bean paste;

   

7. 7 Add onion, ginger and minced garlic;

   

8. 8 Add the meat filling and stir-fry over medium heat;

   

9. 9 Stir-fry the meat filling until it changes color, add the previously blanched tofu cubes, cover the pot and cook over medium-low heat for 3.4 minutes, add light soy sauce, if there is too much water, use high heat to reduce the juice;

   

10. 10 Thicken the gravy and sprinkle with chicken essence. Take it out of the pot and put it on a plate. Sprinkle with an appropriate amount of pepper powder and chopped green onion.