World Foods: Recipe for delicious Mapu Tofu from China

Mapu tofu is THE feel-good dish par excellence. Although the Chinese specialty is prepared comparatively quickly, it tastes incredibly rich. With this recipe you can cook Mapu Tofu from China yourself.

Mapu Tofu is a well-known dish of Szechuan cuisine, one of the eight distinct Chinese cuisines. The cuisine, which comes from the Chinese province of Szechuan, is gradually becoming more popular in Germany. In Berlin in particular, more and more Szechuan restaurants are springing up. Most Szechuan dishes require extensive preparation and are quite complicated. The exception is this recipe for Mapu Tofu from China, which can be prepared relatively quickly.

In Szechuan cuisine, special attention is paid to contrasts in taste. So if you like bold flavors, you’ll love Mapu Tofu! Our recipe uses three ingredients that you probably won’t find at your nearest chain store. However, the Szechuan pepper, chilli bean paste and fermented black soybeans are essential to make the dish actually taste like mapu tofu. So it’s best to stop by an Asian supermarket, they should have the ingredients in stock.

There are some legends about how Mapu Tofu got its name. The most well-known tells of a couple named Chen who ran a small restaurant in the Chinese city of Chengdu in 1862. The woman had some pockmarks on her face, which is why it is believed that the dish was named after her. Ma means smallpox, po can be translated into “elderly woman”, as the Chinese English-language daily “Chinadaily” writes. So it is believed that Ms. Chen is the inventor of Mapu Tofu.

Recipe for Mapu Tofu from China

Ingredients (for 2 people)

500g tofu
2 spring onions
100g minced meat or meat substitute
2 ½ tbsp chili bean paste
1 tbsp fermented black soybeans
3 cloves of garlic
5g ginger
1 tbsp cornstarch
½ tbsp Sichuan pepper

Preparation / Mapu Tofu Recipe

Dice the tofu and store in a bowl. Cover with boiling water and salt. Chop the ginger, spring onions and garlic.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan and sauté ground beef or meat substitute. Remove and place in a bowl. Chop the Sichuan pepper.

Heat oil again and sauté chili bean paste and black soybean paste. After two minutes, add the ginger and garlic. Add the tofu cubes and season with pepper.
Add minced meat and 175ml water with vegetable broth and let simmer.

Mix cornstarch with 2 ½ tbsp water. Add Sichuan pepper and spring onions. Gradually add cornstarch to the mix, stirring after each spoonful. Serve with rice and enjoy.