Zheng Zong Ma Po Dou Fu (Authentic Sichuan Mapo Tofu)
I don't use pork or spring onions! This is the real "Sichuan Mapo Tofu"
Description
The authentic original from Chengdu. Unlike the Japanese style using pork and scallion, the authentic recipe uses minced beef and garlic leaves (Suan Miao). Premium Doubanjiang and massive Sichuan pepper are scorched to deliver the ultimate Ma, La, Tang, and Su experience.
Restaurants serving Zheng Zong Ma Po Dou Fu (Authentic Sichuan Mapo Tofu)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Firm tofu
- Minced beef
- Garlic leaves
- Pixian Doubanjiang
- Douchi
- Sichuan pepper powder
- Chili flakes
- Beef tallow
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- Dice firm tofu and blanch.
- Use minced beef. Fry in hot oil until rock-crispy and brown (Su). Remove.
- Heat generous oil. Add Doubanjiang, Douchi, and chili. Slow-fry until the oil turns bright red.
- Pour in broth, add tofu and crispy beef.
- Add garlic leaves (Suan Miao).
- Add starch slurry in
- stages to bind the sauce to the tofu.
- Plate and shower with massive Sichuan pepper powder.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Violent numbing of Sichuan pepper and deep heat of Pixian Doubanjiang
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Fry minced pork until crispy, substitute with scallion or chives
Pairing
White Rice / Cold Beer
Trivia
[Trivia] Invented in the Qing Dynasty by an old woman (Po) with pockmarks (Ma) on her face. 'Ma Po' means Pockmarked Grandma. In Japan, chef Chen Kenmin substituted scallions and localized it for home cooking.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] Scoop the tofu with the red oil and dump it onto piping hot white rice. The numbing paralyzes your mouth, but the sweetness of tallow and heat of tofu drag you back in. White rice vanishes infinitely.
Allergen
Beef, Soybeans, Wheat