Chinese Mapo Tofu Recipe
Serving Size : 6-8
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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2 TB Oil -- for sauteing
1 TB Black Bean Garlic Sauce- (see notes)
2 TB Red Chili Paste with Garlic
2 TB Plum Sauce
1 lb Ground pork
1 C Rice
1 pack Fresh tofu (any firmness)- cut into cubes
1/2 c Chopped green onions
4 Chopped Garlic
2 TB Corn Startch mix with 1/2 cup water
1 TB Soy Sauce
Procedure: In a wok or deep skillet, place oil, till the oil is hot, place Garlic and stir for a minutes. Put the ground pork, until the ground pork is cooked. Add a cup of rice wine, Black Bean Sauce, Soy Sause, Red Chili Sauce with Garlic and Plum Sauce. Turn heat on high; gradually combine the sauces and meat as the heat increases. When meat is browned and cooked through, turn heat to medium and add cubed tofu. Mix gently and continue to simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until well blended and tofu is heated through. Add Corn Startch mix with 1/2 cup water, and stir a little bit until is boil again add green onion and toss.
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A famous Szechuan recipe - the name Ma Po Tofu is roughly translated as "pockmarked grandmother beancurd," named for the old woman who supposedly Mapo Tofu (Chinese: 麻婆豆腐; pinyin: Mápó dòufu) is a popular Chinese dish from the Szechuan (Sichuan) province. It is a combination of tofu (bean curd) and minced meat, usually pork, in a spicy bean-based sauce, sometimes with other ingredients such as water chestnuts, onions or wood ear fungus. The name means "Pocked-Face Lady's Tofu," and is said to come from a (possibly fictional) food vendor by the name of Ma, who made and sold the dish. Another possible explanation stems from an alternate definition of 麻, meaning "numb": the Szechuan peppercorns used in the dish can slightly numb the diner's mouth.
True Mapo doufu is powerfully spicy with both conventional "heat" spiciness and the characteristic "ma-la" spiciness of Szechuan cuisine. The authentic form of the dish is increasingly easier to find outside China today, but usually in Szechuanese restaurants that do not adapt the dish for non-Szechuanese tastes.
Often the dish is adulterated, with its spiciness severely toned down to widen its appeal. This happens even in Chinese restaurants, commonly those not specialising in Szechuan cuisine.
Story of the Mapo Tofu.
Legend of the Pock-Marked Old Lady
Legend says that the pock-marked old woman (Má Pó) was a leprous widow who lived in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Due to her condition, her home was placed on the outskirts of the city. By coincidence, it was near a road where goods carriers often passed. Although the rich merchants could afford to stay within the numerous inns of the prosperous city while waiting for their goods to sell, poor farmers would stay in cheaper inns scattered along the sides of roads on the outskirts of the ancient city.
It is said that the first people who tasted the old woman's cooking were a farmer and his son who arrived late to the city during a terrible rainstorm. They were forced to find shelter in the old woman's home having found that all of the inns were full.
Eager for the company, the old woman from her paltry larder prepared them a meal, including the dish now know as Mapo Doufu. The dish was so delicious that soon each time the father and son passed the old woman's home they would stay for a meal. In this way, the old woman's renown spread as other goods carriers joined the father and son in visiting and staying at her home. These visitors would often bring the ingredients for her dish so as not to burden her larder.
As time passed, the dish evolved. However, the core ingredients have always been: an ounce of ground pork, a few ounces of tofu, and an ample amount of ground Sichuan pepper.
