Dish · chinese
Mapo Tofu
Soft tofu and ground pork in a numbing, spicy sauce built on doubanjiang, fermented black beans, and sichuan peppercorns.
Where it comes from
Mapo tofu is said to have originated at a small Chengdu restaurant run by a pockmarked woman, whose nickname gives the dish its name; the story is widely repeated but undocumented in detail.
What cooks argue about
Cooks argue over how much doubanjiang to use for fermentation intensity, and over stirring gently so the tofu cubes stay whole instead of breaking apart in the pan.
Versions
Nobody has published a mapo tofu here yet. When somebody cooks one from a video and publishes it, their version appears in this list, with a link back to the original.
What goes in it
Each one opens everything else made with it.
silken tofu
ground pork