Tuesday, January 18, 2011 | 0 Comment(s)

 

I have to admit, I have a soft spot for tofu. It all started when I was a young girl and my Grandma told me that eating tofu would give me skin as smooth and beautiful as Snow White’s. You could say I was hooked from that day on. As I got older (and wiser), I realised that this was quite an exaggeration, but that in no way diminished my love for tofu.

 

I guess Grandma did have a point though. Made from coagulated soy milk, tofu, or bean curd as they’re otherwise known as, is an excellent source of protein and iron. Of late, this Chinese originating ingredient has been gaining popularity especially among health enthusiasts due to its low calorie count and even lower fat content. Not only are they beneficial to our skin, they also help in decreasing risks of heart diseases besides being a must-have for weight watchers. As more and more people are turning to the vegan diet and lifestyle, tofu has become sensational as a replacement for meat, and even eggs!

 

There are many types of tofu, though they can be generally divided into two categories: fresh tofu (made from fresh soy milk) and processed tofu (made from fresh tofu). They can be further divided according to their firmness and texture. As a general rule, the softer the tofu, the higher its moisture content. As tofu possess a rather bland taste, they’re excellent in bringing out the flavours of the ingredients they are cooked along with, complementing them beautifully.

 

Ma Poh Tofu, a dish from the Szechuan province of China, happens to be a product of a pockmarked lady’s exceptional cooking skills. The term ‘Ma Poh’ means  ‘pockmarked old lady’, and it is believed that she prepared this dish at her husband’s restaurant, and later after the demise of her husband it became her source of income.  This dish was sensational among the people there, and it became her signature dish, attracting people far and wide, and the rest was history.

 

This dish is a delightful albeit fiery combination of tofu set in a bean-based spicy sauce. Often they are topped with minced beef or pork, but just enough to complement the taste of the tofu in the sauce. Like most Szechuan dishes, this dish is powerfully spicy in both conventional spiciness as well as “mala ”, the numbing spiciness that accompanies most Szechaun cuisine. This numbing sensation can be attributed to the use of crushed Szechuan peppercorn which gives it a sweat-inducing, tear-jerking spiciness. For the Ma Poh Tofu, the main and most important ingredients are the chilli broad bean paste, the fermented black beans, chilli oil, chilli flakes and of course, the Szechuan peppercorns. These beautiful mix of ingredients results in a very spicy gravy. Perhaps this is why the tofu is a delightful inclusion in it-it helps to subdue the fiery sensation of the gravy.

 

Taste is a rather subjective matter, and some people would prefer to reduce the spiciness of this dish. Of course this is achievable by varying the amount of chilli and Szechuan peppercorns in it, but then it wouldn’t be authentic any longer. If so, where’s the mala in that?

 

 

 

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Tagged As:
Soy bean, Pork, Light soy sauce, Chilli bean sauce