Mapo tofu is a famous dish in Sichuan cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines in China. The main raw material is tofu, which is characterized by hemp, spicy, hot, fragrant, crisp, tender, fresh and lively, and is called the eight-character proverb.

Source of dish name

Mapo tofu was made by Liu, the wife of Chen, the owner of a small restaurant in Wanfuqiao, a northern suburb of Chengdu, in the early years of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty. Liu has pockmarked face and is called Chen Mapo. Her own baked tofu was called "Chen Mapo Tofu", and her food store was later called "Chen Mapo Tofu Shop". Chengdu Survey (Qing Fu Chongju) published in Chengdu Dazhong Daily 1909 has listed this restaurant and Chen Mapo Tofu as 23 famous restaurants in Chengdu, which are equally famous with Zhengxing Garden and nave Garden. The history of Chen Mapo's creation of Mapo tofu is recorded in books such as Jincheng Ci and Hibiscus Flower. Feng Jiaji, a poet in the late Qing Dynasty, wrote in the poem "Jincheng Zhuzhi Ci": "Horse!"