Mapo tofu making technique is a representative project of provincial intangible cultural heritage, which was selected as 20 1 1. The project protection unit is Chengdu Catering Company of Sichuan Province. Provincial representative inheritors 1 person, and 2 municipal representative inheritors.

Mainly popular in the main city of Chengdu, radiating to surrounding counties and other provinces and cities in China. The main ingredient is tender tofu, and the auxiliary materials are beef, green garlic and fresh meat soup. Choose gypsum tofu and cut it into pieces, add salt and boiling water to soak it 10 minute to remove astringency, and remove tendons from beef and chop it into fine particles.

When the vegetable oil in the wok is heated to 60%, add minced beef, salt, lobster sauce (fine powder), Chili powder and Pixian watercress (fine powder), stir-fry for a few times, then add fresh soup and tofu, and simmer for a few minutes on medium heat.

Add green garlic festival, soy sauce and so on. Cook for a while. When the juice is thick and shiny, put it in a bowl and sprinkle with pepper powder. Its characteristics are spicy and delicious, delicate in taste, not rotten in shape, bright in color and cheap in price.

Allusions and legends

At the end of Qing Dynasty, there was a small restaurant next to Wanfuqiao Wharf in Chengdu. Its boss-in-law, Wen, is beautiful and white, while her husband, Chen Chunfu, is called pockmarked by her neighbors because of his pockmarked face. Therefore, Wen was called Chen Mapo by posthumous title. This shop is famous for serving delicious tofu, so people named this dish "Mapo Tofu".

In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Chen Mapo received a group of dockers and porters. There are not many dishes in the shop. Just before closing time, another group of people ordered a hot and cheap dish. Chen Mapo cooked a fragrant and spicy tofu with the remaining tofu and minced beef, as well as raw materials such as watercress and lobster sauce.

This group of people were full of praise and shouted happily after eating. Later, this dish gradually became the specialty of the Chen family, attracting many people to taste it. Because this kind of tofu is hemp and spicy, the proprietress is also called Chen Mapo. Therefore, this tofu dish is called Chen Mapo tofu.