That’s just the way it is and always has been in Sichuan. A deep-red oil slick on top (see all photos here).

The version served a few years back at Chen’s Mapo Doufu in Chengdu, the originator of the dishįrom The Cookbook’s recipe I realized the error of my ways: too much meat, not enough chili flakes and, most importantly, too little oil. To distinguish it from other braised tofu, people named the dish Mapo Tofu, which in Chinese means pock-faced granny on account of the fact that there were pocks on her face. Chen’s still serves a mean version at the original of its many Chengdu outposts.ĭuring the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty, the wife of the owner of Chen Xing Sheng Restaurant invented a way to cook tofu, which featured distinct spicy flavor. A version that-dare I say it-matches Chen’s Mapo Doufu, the chain of restaurants that traces its founding to the one and only “pock-marked Mother Chen,” who created the dish eons ago. This is the mapo doufu I remember from the best versions I’ve eaten in Chengdu.

I could no longer turn to Qing Qing, as he’s gone on to bigger things as part of the team running the culinary institute’s hotel, but I could turn to The Cookbook, which contains the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine’s own nominee for the definitive recipe.Īnd once again, The Cookbook did not let me down. So I decided it was time to get back to basics, and relearn this classic from scratch. It had evolved into something not quite right, but I couldn’t put my finger on what that was. But over the years, my version had somehow gone astray.

Ma po tofu