Name: Mapo Doufou ( )
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 Servings
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine; 1½ teaspoons double dark soy sauce; 4 fresh Thai chiles, minced, with seeds; 2 tablespoons peanut oil; 1 teaspoon peeled and minced ginger; 5 tablespoons ketchup; 1 tablespoon cornstarch; 4 ounces ground pork; ¼ cup Chicken Stock; 1½ teaspoons sesame oil; 1½ teaspoons minced garlic; ¾ teaspoon salt; 3 or 4 scallions, cut on the diagonal into ¼-inch-thick slices, white portions (¼ cup) and green portions (½ cup) separated; 4 firm fresh bean curd cakes (1 pound total), cut into ½-inch cubes; 1 tablespoon Chinkiang vinegar; ⅛ teaspoon salt; 1½ tablespoons oyster sauce; 2 teaspoons sugar

Preparation info

Makes
4 to 6
Servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking

By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

Published 2009

About

There is no suitable name in English for this superb Sichuan dish. The Chinese translates literally as “pockmarked old woman’s bean curd.” In Hong Kong, however, where it is known in Cantonese as mah pao dau fu, “grandmother” is used as an honorific in place of “old woman.” In both cases, the dish is a direct, intense mix of bean curd, pork (or sometimes beef), and hot chiles, with its own particular story. Many years ago, an elderly woman whose face showed the effects of smallpox op