Ingredients
Requirements
- Wok
- Pestle
Mapo doufu comes from Chengdu and is perhaps the best-known dish from Sichuan. The name refers to the plump old woman who, according to legend, sold it to rickshaw pullers who passed by her food stall. What makes the dish is not just the heat, but mala: the tingling, almost citrusy numbing sensation of Sichuan pepper against the deep, salty kick of doubanjiang.
You roast the Sichuan pepper separately and only sprinkle it over the dish at the very end. If you heat it in the oil, the volatile oils that create that tingling sensation will evaporate.
Soft tofu breaks easily. Therefore, let it sit briefly in lightly salted hot water and slide it through the sauce with the back of your spatula instead of stirring.
Ingredients