Mapo Tofu

( 麻婆豆腐 )
By Lucy He
What is mapo tofu, and how do
you make it?
Mapo tofu ( 麻婆豆腐 ) is a spicy and mouth-
numbing dish originating from the Sichuan
province. The name of the dish directly translated
to “Pockmarked grandma’s tofu”, which I’ll talk
about later. It is made with tofu, ground beef or
pork, spicy bean sauce and a special ingredient:
the Sichuan peppercorn. The peppercorn is what
gives the tofu it’s signature mouth-numbing
flavor. It is made by stir-frying ( 炒 ) then
stewing ( 炖 ) the ingredients in a wok.
Origins of Mapo tofu

The reason why Mapo tofu is called that is

because it was originally created by a woman
called Chen Senfu, who was the wife of a
restaurant owner in Chengdu, the capital of the
Sichuan province. She had contracted smallpox
in her youth, and as a result she still had
smallpox scars (pockmarks) on her face. Due to
that, and the fact that she was quite old, she
became known as “Ma Po”, which mean
pockmarked grandma. Her recipe was so famous
that it had spread across the whole of China, and
people are still enjoying this dish today.
 Meaning of the Characters 麻婆
豆腐
麻 婆 豆 腐
Ma po do fu
Pockmarks, numb and other Grandma or old lady Bean; Tofu when combined Rot or decay; Tofu when
meanings. with 腐 combined with 豆 .
The radical at the bottom
It is a radical on it's own, means “female” since It is a radical on it's own, It is made with the radical for
and traditionally means grandmas are female and the and it means bean or pea in “shelter”, because something
top is the sound component of can only rot in a sheltered
Cannabis in Chinese. Chinese.
the character. place.
Thank you for
listening!