Spicy, fragrant, tender and hot, mapo tofu is mouthwatering and most authentic when served at Chen's restaurant in Chengdu. Liu Yuanqi / for China Daily

When the creator of Chengdu's most famous beancurd dish first tossed the tofu, minced beef and Sichuan peppers together, she never knew she would go down in culinary history, or that the dish would be named after her.

Mapo tofu was an accidental creation.

The dish was first served in 1862, the same year that President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States, and it could be described as the first instant of "service outsourcing" in China.

That year, a certain Chen opened a small restaurant next to Wanfu Bridge in the northern part of the city. His wife was in charge of all the cooking.

The bridge was where many menial laborers would rest from their toils and eat a simple meal.

Many customers at Chen's restaurant were porters transporting rapeseed oil.

They would carry along some beef and tofu, and offer the chef some rapeseed oil in exchange for whipping up a dish for them.

Her tofu and beef dish became famous very quickly and her customers claimed they were refreshed by the tasty concoction of tofu cubes, minced beef and the spicy seasoning of chili, spring onions and Sichuan peppercorns.

The fame of this dish spread quickly by word of mouth, and since the lady chef's most distinctive features were the pockmarks on her face, they named it mapo tofu.

"Mapo" literally means "pockmarked lady".

News of good food travels quickly, and in the later years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), mapo tofu was recognized as a signature dish of the city by the local government in Chengdu. In 1993, Chen's Mapo Tofu Restaurant received the title "China Time-honored Brand" from the Ministry of External Trade.

But it is not the paper accolades that have impressed one foreign visitor. During his most recent trip to Chengdu, G. Timothy Haight, the former head of Menlo College in California, said he regarded the dish as one of the most delicious he had tasted in China.

Haight told his interpreter, Zhang Lan, 24, that he had searched for good food all over China, and he thought the most delicious was at Chen's Mapo Tofu Restaurant in Chengdu.

Spicy, fragrant, tender and hot, mapo tofu has indeed an enthusiastic following worldwide, including the American educator.

It is a relatively easy dish to replicate in the home kitchen. To cook the dish, you start with about 400 gms of beancurd, diced into 1 cm cubes.

Rapeseed or canola oil is heated up in a frying pan and the minced beef is dropped in and fried until it browns.

Seasoning is added next, and this includes salt, Sichuan peppercorns, pepper, chili and hot bean paste. This is mixed into the minced beef and fried until fragrant.

A cup of broth is then added and the tofu cubes slide into the frying pan. When the tofu is bubbling nicely, a scattering of green garlic and a splash of soy sauce are added next.

The tofu is then ladled into a large bowl or deep platter and dusted with more pepper.

If you are not keen to experiment in the kitchen, you can sample the real thing at Chen's Mapo Tofu Restaurant at 197 Xiyulong Street, Chengdu, Sichuan province, and call ahead at 8628-86754512 for reservations.

You can contact the writer athuangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn.Zhang Tianxiao contributed to the story.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/01/2011 page9)