Ma Po Tofu is one of the traditional famous dishes of Sichuan Province. The main ingredient is: tofu, auxiliary ingredients are garlic cloves, beef foam (other meats are also available), seasonings are crispy bean curd, chili pepper, chili noodles, soy sauce, sugar, starch and so on. The numbness comes from the chili peppers and the spiciness comes from the chili noodles. This dish is spicy, hot, fresh, fragrant, hot, export tender and crispy, showing the spicy characteristics of Sichuan cuisine to the fullest. Now, Ma Po Tofu is exported to the ocean.

Ma po tofu was first seen in the Qing Dynasty during the Tongzhi period, and was created by Chen Liu, the wife of the owner of the Chen Xing Sheng Restaurant in Wanfu Bridge, Chengdu. It was called Ma Po Tofu because she had a few pockmarks on her face. Chen's cooked tofu was brightly colored, with crispy beef particles, numbing, spicy, fragrant, crispy, tender, hot and whole, rich in Sichuan flavor. Chen's tofu soon became famous, with food seekers flocking to the restaurant and literati frequenting it. Some good people looked at Chen's face with hemp marks and joked about Chen Ma Po Tofu. That's why the store was called Chen Ma Po Tofu Shop. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Chen Ma Po Tofu was listed as a famous food in Chengdu.

The history of Chen Ma Po's creation of Ma Po Tofu is documented in books such as "Jin Cheng Bamboo Words" and "Hibiscus Story Record". According to "Chengdu Overview", Chen Ma Po Tofu was listed as a famous food in Chengdu at the end of the Qing Dynasty.