Ma Po Tofu?

Anyone have recommendations for the best Ma Po Tofu?

This spicy dish features firm tofu with ground pork (or beef) and chili bean sauce. Ma-Po was the wife of a Szechuan chef who created this dish in the mid-19th century. I remember an uncle of mine (BTW, I'm Taiwanese, for whatever that's worth) said that Ma-Po was pock-marked and that had something to do with the dish or the name of the dish or something. Whatever. Anyway, I was wondering if any place did a particularly good rendition of it, i.e., one that wasn't too heavy on the corn starch.

Love this site! Thank you!

Not surprisingly, one of the finest renditions of this dish is at Lao Sze Chuan. I am also fond of the Ma Po Tofu at Spring World (listed as Szechuan Bean Curd on their menu, I believe).

I've eaten this dish (one of my favorites) at many places around town. A lot more places are serving it these days, but many of them are using a sauce similar to a hot and sour soup base rather than the black bean base.

Lao Sze Chuan is the gold-standard in Chicago as far as I am concerned.

Best,
Michael

Definitely, Lao Sze Chuan. I've rhapsodized on this site over their ma po doufu. Theirs is vegetarian by virtue of the absence of ground pork. The sichuan rendition is a far cry from the typical dish of tofu and veg in an insipid sweet brown sauce. I recently organized a holiday dinner at LSC during which we, of course, ordered the ma po tofu. The s/o and I, not getting our fill, ordered more for takehome.

yes, according to Fuscia Dunlop's excellent Land of Plenty, ma po doufu is also known as pock-marked Mother Chen's bean curd.

Christopher Gordon wrote:Theirs is vegetarian by virtue of the absence of ground pork.

LSC will make their Ma Po with or without groud pork. I prefer it with.

eatchicago wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:Theirs is vegetarian by virtue of the absence of ground pork.

LSC will make their Ma Po with or without groud pork. I prefer it with.

good to know...the dish is listed on the vegetarian section of the menu and I usually dine there with at least one ma po-loving vegetarian in my group

Christopher Gordon wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:Theirs is vegetarian by virtue of the absence of ground pork.

LSC will make their Ma Po with or without groud pork. I prefer it with.

good to know...the dish is listed on the vegetarian section of the menu and I usually dine there with at least one ma po-loving vegetarian in my group

Be careful when dining with vegeatarians at LSC. The Ma Po is actually listed on the "vegetables" section of the menu. Some of the items in that section are made with ground pork or dried shrimp. They will happly ensure any of the dishes are vegetarian, but inclusion in that section does not guarantee it to be so.

Yep, I'm aware of the possibility of animal products in Sichuan vegetable preparations and I've informed my, for the most part, strict vegetarian friends. I say, for the most part, because LSC is so good they'll overlook a little pig fat.

I like the version at Chang's Chinese Restaurant. However, it's more of a Korean version of the dish. You can request the dish without meat. Chang's is also very good for ja jang myun and cham bong.

I believe they are closed on Mondays.

Chang's Chinese Restaurant
3718 N. Elston Ave.
Chicago
773-588-6906