The history of tofu - Mapo Tofu recipe 麻婆豆腐

In 1986 USA Today reported that tofu was America's most hated food. Years later tofu is gradually making it's comeback. And it should be! I love tofu, and if you grew up in an Asian family you grew up with tofu. My boyfriend born and raised in Vietnam cannot look any more happy than when I serve tofu on the dinner table. He very well remembers the times where he was younger and they had to share a block of tofu with the whole family. Eating a whole tofu dish now equals wealth for him.

In western countries tofu is getting more popular because it's natural, inexpensive and nourishing. In those countries people manly use tofu in stir-fry dishes or as a substitute for meat, but there is so much more you can do with it! In this post I will explain you where tofu originated from, how tofu is made, the health benefits of soy products and a delicious typical Chinese tofu dish.

How tofu is made

First let me explain how tofu is made. The process begins with soaking and then mashing soy beans. They will separate the mashed soy beans into two containers. One container for the milk and one for the pulp. The factories sell the pulp and keep the milk for making tofu. Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing it into those familiar blocks you see in your local supermarket.
Tofu originated from China. Legend says it was discovered in the Han Dynasty more than 2000 years ago when a Chinese cook accidentally curdled soy milk when he added seaweed. Some people also state that Lord Liu An discovered the technique for making tofu, but there is not much effort supporting that statement. Back in that day inventions were mostly attributed to important leaders.

Health benefits

Tofu contains more than double the protein in meat or fish, contains all eight essential amino acids, has high value of magnesium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1! Also daily intake of soy foods are associated with reducing risk of at least one cancer type. Quite amazing for such a simple looking product right?

Mapo tofu 
One of the most famous and my all time favourite tofu dish; mapo tofu. Mapo tofu is a spicy tofu dish that originated from the Szechuan province. It has that numbing spiciness which I adore and is flavoured with Szechuan pepper and fermented black beans. Most of the time the tofu is combined with pork or minced meat but if you are a vegetarian you can just leave the meat out and it will still taste amazing.
I will share the recipe with you today and I hope you have a chance to try it out. If you are not used to spicy food, remember if you are the cook the spiciness is all up to you. This is such an easy and nutritional recipe for those days where you don't have much time to prepare dinner.

Ingredients;

- one block of soft tofu cut into cubes
- 250 gram of minced pork or beef (optional)
- one cup of chicken stock
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- one cup of chopped spring onions
- cornstarch
- one tbsp fermented black beans
- chili bean paste (to taste)
- 2 tbsps soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of Chinese rice wine
- sesame oil
- ground Szechuan pepper (to taste)

Instructions;

1. Heat up a skillet or a wok and add the sesame oil. Add the fermented black beans and break them a little with the back of a spoon. Add the garlic, chili bean paste and toss until fragrant.

2. Add the meat and cook for another minute.

3. Pour in the chicken stock, rice wine and soy sauce. Carefully add the tofu blocks to the mixture and stir gently until all the blocks are coated with the sauce. Be careful not to break the blocks. Add half of the spring onions and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add a tsp of cornstarch in the middle of the pan and allow the sauce to thicken for another minute or two. The sauce is thick enough if it sticks a little to the spoon.

5. Pour everything in a bowl or serve on a bed of rice. Put the other half of the green onions on top and finish with some ground Szechuan pepper to taste.


I hope you enjoyed reading my post and try out my recipe.

~Mei mei