Because of my college days, I was deeply impressed with this dish. I was admitted to the university on 1992. When I was admitted to college, my family was not rich. Plus that summer, my sister was admitted to a secondary school in Wuhan, and my brother was admitted to an adult university. My parents are worried about the cost of schooling for their three children. My father was still in the army at that time. The treatment of being a soldier is far from as good as it is now. My mother works in the canteen of a state-owned enterprise. The salary is also meager. However, parents insist that children's studies should not be delayed under any circumstances. So, under the patchwork, our three children embarked on the road of leaving home to study at the same time. Because my sister is the only child in the family and the youngest child. Therefore, my sister's living expenses for going to school are relatively abundant. My brother and I need to control our expenses every month to support our parents to remit money to us again. I remember very clearly at that time, almost all my meals a day were made by my mother, and I occasionally went to the big stove window of the canteen to cook some inexpensive dishes. My mother also sends me two bottles of tofu milk every month. At that time, there was a special snack window in the school cafeteria, where students could order food and stir-fry it now. Whenever I look at that window, I envy it.

By chance, I became attached to Mapo tofu and once cooked a stir-fry in the upper bunk. When he brought it back to the dormitory, it happened that his high school classmates came to see him, so he took his classmates to the restaurant on campus for dinner. When you leave, tell me not to waste it, fry it for me and then wash the dishes for him. This snack is Mapo tofu. I took a bite at that time and really thought it was delicious. The spicy and delicious taste really makes me want to stop. From then on, I will try to squeeze some more out of my meager living expenses. Every two weeks, I fry a portion of Mapo tofu for eight yuan. Four years in college is my only luxury.

Even after 20 years of graduation, this is still a must-have dish every time I go to Sichuan cuisine restaurant.

Because it bears the memory of my youth, which I will never forget.

Spicy hot bean curd