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The story
The thread kicked off with a post saying, “I want to eat real mapo tofu.” The first replies pointed to Akasaka Sichuan Restaurant and to Chen Mapo Tofu (Chengdu, Sichuan Province, founded 1862), said to be the birthplace of the dish. From there the discussion branched into debates over authenticity — comments like “whether it suits Japanese tastes is a separate issue” and “the Japanese version falls flat because it leaves out Sichuan peppercorns.” Things ranged from “Marumiya’s retort-pouch mix is plenty good enough” all the way to tangents questioning whether the dish even needs to use tofu at all.
What people said
I mean Akasaka Sichuan Restaurant.
No 'real' or 'fake' about it.
Everything you eat in Fukuoka is the best in the world.
Fukuoka is the greatest.
Anything eaten outside Fukuoka tastes terrible.
called "Chen Xingsheng Fanpu," by Chen Liu, the wife of the shop's owner.
Using garlic leaves like the ones used in Sichuan brings out a distinctive flavor.
The girl is reminded of the mapo tofu her beloved grandmother used to make, and eats it happily.
Classic Yamaoka.
But even Yamaoka's takes on ayu (sweetfish) are trash (a dig at a notorious Oishinbo storyline).
I don't care if it's the "authentic" flavor or whatever,
but isn't it a weird leap to assume that something considered delicious in China will also suit Japanese palates?
Yet you'd be the first to blow up screaming, "Are you even tasting the sansho?!" (another Oishinbo callback)
Now you get it.
If you want that flavor, just add garlic powder.
Mapo tofu isn't that hard.
I end up wondering why it has to be tofu.
Deep.
So what would you use instead?
Tofu and eggplant really are both good,
so I guess what you want is an ingredient that soaks up the flavor well.
These days logistics have improved so you can get the same food anywhere in Japan,
but back in the day there were plenty of dishes here too that were only eaten in certain regions.
With how huge China's landmass is, that's probably even more the case there.
That's pretty common with dishes that originated overseas.
These days it's such a nationwide staple that I'd think it's rare to find a Chinese person who doesn't know it.
But 30 years ago in China, even traveling outside your hometown required strict screening, so most people living in rural areas only knew the narrow range of local dishes from their own region.
Some make you go 'what even is this?' it's so bad, others aren't that different from the Japanese version.
If they don't tone it down for Japanese customers it's way too spicy —
their "mildly spicy" is about equal to Japan's "medium spicy,"
and their real "medium spicy" is about equal to Japan's "extra hot."
Ever since, I've kept eating mapo tofu everywhere trying to chase that same taste, but nothing comes close.
It had this narcotic kind of kick and deliciousness that hit straight to your brain and body.
Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao) — that's the key ingredient.
Japanese mapo tofu tends to skip them.
Just crank the heat way up with plenty of oil, mix it together, and stir-fry.
Wow, dropping an incredibly shallow cliché without a shred of hesitation.
Sichuan cuisine is exactly the mala ("numbing-spicy") technique —
dishes built on intense Sichuan-pepper numbness and serious heat.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Mapo tofu is said to have been invented in 1862 by Chen Liu, the wife of the owner of a small Chengdu eatery called “Chen Xingsheng Fanpu” — a story the thread itself brings up — and the restaurant’s name is the origin of “Chen Mapo Tofu.” The dish took off in Japan largely thanks to the spread of retort-pouch seasoning mixes like Marumiya’s, which tone the flavor down for Japanese palates by cutting back on huajiao (Sichuan peppercorns, a spice similar to Japan’s sansho) — a difference from the authentic version that came up again and again in the thread. Opinions split over whether the goal should be chasing the authentic flavor, or whether a Japanese-adapted mapo tofu should be embraced as a valid dish in its own right. Posts #29, #31, and #32 (numbered >>39 in the original thread) also raised how, historically, the dish’s popularity varied by region even within China — worth flagging, since readers might otherwise assume mapo tofu had always been known nationwide there.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “I want to eat real mapo tofu — where can I get it?.”
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