Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu is one of the defining dishes of Sichuan cooking and a reliable introduction to the mala flavour profile — the simultaneous experience of heat from dried chillies and numbing from Sichuan peppercorn that characterises so much of the region's cuisine. The name translates roughly as 'pockmarked old woman's tofu', referencing the legendary inventor: a Mrs Chen who ran a restaurant near Chengdu's north gate in the 1860s and whose face, marked by smallpox, became associated with the dish.

The tofu is the soft, silken variety — the most delicate type, which breaks up easily and absorbs surrounding flavours readily. It is cut into cubes of roughly two to three centimetres and handled gently to prevent disintegration. The sauce it is cooked in is the operative element.

The sauce begins with Pixian doubanjiang — a fermented broad-bean and chilli paste from Pixian county near Chengdu, considered the defining ingredient — which is fried in oil until it darkens and the oil turns red. Fermented black beans (douchi) add a second fermentation note. Minced beef (or pork, in some versions) is cooked through. Stock is added to form a broth; the tofu cubes are lowered in. Ground dried chilli for additional heat. At the end, ground Sichuan peppercorn is added — the amount determines the numbing intensity, and well-made mapo tofu numbs the lips noticeably. The sauce is thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

Garlic chive or scallion is scattered over the top as garnish. The dish is served very hot in the cooking vessel, the sauce still bubbling.

Several restaurants in Chengdu claim lineage to the original Chen Mapo Tofu restaurant. The version at Chen Mapo Tofu's Wenshu Yuan branch is frequently cited as the most authentic. Outside Sichuan, mapo tofu is available across China but is typically milder — the quantity of peppercorn and chilli is usually reduced for non-Sichuan audiences. Japanese and Korean cuisines have adopted adapted versions, both significantly milder.