Fresh and tender tofu, warm as white jade, bright red chili oil poured on the surface, and then with a fragrant pepper flavor, eat it while hot, spicy entrance, sweating, suddenly increased appetite. This is Chengdu's famous "Mapo Tofu".
This sichuan side dish that floats across the country began during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty and was created by an ordinary woman in Chengdu, "Chen Ma po".
Chen Ma po was originally surnamed Liu, because her husband's surname was Chen, plus she had smallpox when she was a child, and there were sparse hemp marks on her face, so she was called Chen Ma Po.
Mapo Tofu
Chen Ma po loves to cook, and the couple opened a restaurant called Chen Xingsheng by the Wanfu Bridge in Chengdu. Wanfu Bridge is the main traffic route out of the north gate of Chengdu, and it is also the only way for the new prosperity to chengdu. The new flourishing vegetable oil, in addition to supplying local oil, the rest are sent to Chengdu by this road. At that time, there were no cars, and the transportation relied on manpower. Therefore, at the turn of spring and summer, on the day when the rapeseed is ripe, the crowd on the Wanfu Bridge is surging. Porters came here from Xinfan with large baskets of rapeseed oil, sold out the oil in the market, and then returned the same way with the oil baskets on their backs. It was almost noon when I arrived at Wanfu Bridge. The porters rushed for half a day, hungry and thirsty, and when they saw the restaurant, they put down the oil basket, went inside, ordered two or three small dishes, and began to enjoy the hot rice.
Ma Po is an attentive person. She observed that most of these porters did not have high requirements for dishes, as long as they were delicious and affordable. The most popular with them is the spicy tofu. Affordable and fragrant entrance.
She also noticed that the structure of the oil basket was special, and although the porters had sold out of vegetable oil, there was still residual oil in the gap between the miè slices. Whenever the porter enters the store to eat, the oil will flow down the cracks, and over time, the tables, chairs, walls, and stools in the store are covered with traces of oil, and it is not easy to clean. What to do? After some time of deliberation, Ma Po asked her husband to build a stone trough in the open space in front of the shop, on which some wooden planks were sparsely covered. Before the porter enters the store, he buckles the oil basket upside down on the wooden board, and the oil in the basket will flow into the stone trough along the gap between the planks. This not only solves the health problems caused by the residual oil, but also enriches the oil source of the store, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone! Since then, tofu here is oilier, brighter and cheaper than elsewhere. Porters are becoming more and more fond of this spicy tofu.
Ma Po is warm and kind. After getting acquainted, some patrons who often come to the restaurant to eat will sometimes cut some beef from the market and ask her to process it in the store. Once, Ma Po tried to chop beef and sprinkle it in tofu. After the tofu was ready, she eagerly tasted it. At this time, the tofu is soaked in the fresh flavor of the beef, tender and smooth, and it is extremely delicious to eat. Ma Po excitedly brought the tofu to the table, and everyone scrambled to eat it. Ma Po was inspired and began to carefully prepare spicy tofu. Stir-fry the minced beef in heavy oil, add watercress ginger and garlic to its flavor, and then cut the tofu into small pieces into the pot and add soup to simmer, when the pot is clear, the oil is thin, sprinkled with pepper powder and raw onions, a plate of tofu oil is bright and bright, spicy and fragrant, red, white and green tricolor are eye-catching, the tofu is smooth and smooth without chewing, the beef has a long aftertaste, very fresh, tender, crisp and hot, and it is famous for a while, and it is affectionately called "Mapo tofu".
Mapo tofu
Mapo tofu is simple to cook and the ingredients are not exquisite, but it can fully reflect the three characteristics of Sichuan cuisine, which are rich in color, fragrant and thick in flavor, and have become the representative dishes of Sichuan cuisine. Nowadays, mapo tofu is not only sought after in the province and at home, but also in Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea. It is said that a Japanese company makes it into canned food and puts it on the market!