MaPo Tofu 麻婆豆腐

Chinese Mapo Tofu Recipe
Serving Size : 6-8
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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2 TB Oil -- for sauteing
1 TB Black Bean Garlic Sauce
2 TB Red Chili Paste with Garlic
2 TB Plum Sauce
1 lb Ground pork
1 C Rice Wine
1 pack Fresh tofu (any firmness)- cut into cubes
1/2 c Chopped green onions
4 Chopped Garlic
2 TB Corn starch mix with 1/2 cup water
1 TB Soy Sauce

Procedure: In a wok or deep skillet, place oil, till the oil is hot, place Garlic and stir for a minutes. Put the ground pork, until the ground pork is cooked. Add a cup of rice wine, Black Bean Sauce, Soy Sause, Red Chili Sauce with Garlic and Plum Sauce. Turn heat on high; gradually combine the sauces and meat as the heat increases. When meat is browned and cooked through, turn heat to medium and add cubed tofu. Mix gently and continue to simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until well blended and tofu is heated through. Add corn starch mix with 1/2 cup water, and stir a little bit until is boil again add green onion and toss.
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A famous Szechuan recipe - the name Ma Po Tofu is roughly translated as "pockmarked grandmother beancurd," named for the old woman who supposedly Mapo Tofu (Chinese: 麻婆豆腐; pinyin: Mápó dòufu) is a popular Chinese dish from the Szechuan (Sichuan) province. It is a combination of tofu (bean curd) and minced meat, usually pork, in a spicy bean-based sauce, sometimes with other ingredients such as water chestnuts, onions or wood ear fungus. The name means "Pocked-Face Lady's Tofu," and is said to come from a (possibly fictional) food vendor by the name of Ma, who made and sold the dish. Another possible explanation stems from an alternate definition of 麻, meaning "numb": the Szechuan peppercorns used in the dish can slightly numb the diner's mouth.
True Mapo doufu is powerfully spicy with both conventional "heat" spiciness and the characteristic "ma-la" spiciness of Szechuan cuisine. The authentic form of the dish is increasingly easier to find outside China today, but usually in Szechuanese restaurants that do not adapt the dish for non-Szechuanese tastes.
Often the dish is adulterated, with its spiciness severely toned down to widen its appeal. This happens even in Chinese restaurants, commonly those not specialising in Szechuan cuisine.

Story of the Mapo Tofu.
Legend of the Pock-Marked Old Lady
Legend says that the pock-marked old woman (Má Pó) was a leprous widow who lived in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Due to her condition, her home was placed on the outskirts of the city. By coincidence, it was near a road where goods carriers often passed. Although the rich merchants could afford to stay within the numerous inns of the prosperous city while waiting for their goods to sell, poor farmers would stay in cheaper inns scattered along the sides of roads on the outskirts of the ancient city.
It is said that the first people who tasted the old woman's cooking were a farmer and his son who arrived late to the city during a terrible rainstorm. They were forced to find shelter in the old woman's home having found that all of the inns were full.
Eager for the company, the old woman from her paltry larder prepared them a meal, including the dish now know as Mapo Doufu. The dish was so delicious that soon each time the father and son passed the old woman's home they would stay for a meal. In this way, the old woman's renown spread as other goods carriers joined the father and son in visiting and staying at her home. These visitors would often bring the ingredients for her dish so as not to burden her larder.
As time passed, the dish evolved. However, the core ingredients have always been: an ounce of ground pork, a few ounces of tofu, and an ample amount of ground Sichuan pepper.

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麻婆豆腐
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材料：
油......2匙
豆辦醬 .....2匙
梅醬 .....2匙
板豆腐.....1盒 切丁
米酒.....1杯
豬絞肉.....約一磅
辣椒醬.....1匙
蒜頭.....4瓣
蔥.....適量
醬油.....2匙
太白粉.....2匙調半杯水備用

作法：
1.豆腐切丁，蒜、、蔥切末
2.用油大火爆香蒜，等香味跑出來時放入豬絞肉翻炒
3.接著放入米酒 滾了之後
4.接著放入辣豆瓣醬、辣椒醬、梅醬 小火煮約十分鐘
加入太白粉調和的水 勾芡 攪拌均勻之後
5.起鍋撒蔥花即可

麻婆豆腐的由來
一個麻臉婦人燒出一手好豆腐,這是四川名菜「麻婆豆腐」的故事.說來有趣的是,豆腐不是什麼珍稀食材,燒豆腐更不是難事,麻婆豆腐」故事中傳奇的是,一味尋常價廉的豆腐居然能流傳一百多年,超越時間和地域的限制,不但擠身中國名菜排行榜,更揚名國際.這一點恐怕是百多年前,陳麻婆燒豆腐之初,始料未及的.
它的發源地在四川成都北門外的萬福橋頭,原創者是臉上留有天花遺痕的劉姓婦女,因為她的丈夫姓陳,加上一臉麻子十分醒目,大家都稱她作「陳麻婆」.
陳麻婆生於十九世紀初,和丈夫在萬福橋頭開了一家名叫「陳興盛」的飯鋪.當時萬福橋是油商運油的必經之處,腳夫們常常在陳興盛飯鋪落腳吃飯,豆腐因為便宜,成為腳夫們常常點叫的菜色,時間久了,豆腐的各式作法,煎.炒.煮.炸都吃膩了,有一回運油的腳夫大方貢獻出菜油,請廚房燒一道與眾不同的豆腐打打牙祭.陳麻婆就近利用手邊的辣椒.豆鼓.豆瓣醬.青蒜.花椒末和黃牛肉末,燒了一道麻辣鮮香的豆腐佳餚,沒想到搏得滿堂贊美.
陳麻婆這道無心插柳的豆腐,燒的實在太好,豆腐既軟又滑,外形完整不爛,味道則是「麻.辣.鮮.燙.酥.嫩」,可以配足三大碗白飯下肚.不久揚傳開來,大家上門都指定要吃這道陳麻婆燒的招牌豆腐,「麻婆豆腐」之名不逕而走