It seems counterinstinctive that it would be so late, but I'm confident that they're right for a couple of reasons 1. Proper recipes don't really show up until the 1930s, and those are mostly very bland Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisine. 2. Older books of Sichuan cuisine (like the mid-18c 醒园录) are mostly just names of dishes, and those are banquet cuisine, which unexpectedly enough is mostly seafood.
The earliest mention is in a 1909 guide (成都通览)--again, just a name and nothing else. The dish has certainly been around since much earlier, but it doesn't show up in print until the 1950s.
It's of course impossible to prove a negative, but if this isn't the earliest, it's certainly not far off.
Thanks again for your deep research. I really appreciate the care and love you put into these pieces.
I am just realizing that I have been cooking a far from standard version of Mapo Tofu for years, so I will now need to try out these recipes. I got started on MT trying out one of the recipes here:
back in 2015 (first attempt was with the Mission Chinese recipe which adds Thai chilli, incorporates pork and beef, mushroom powder and white wine!). I wonder how much more the recipe has been altered since? I think I have seen an Italian pasta dish with Mapo Tofu flavors;)
Where can I find these 11 books? Any chance someone else has translated them? I have a strong interest in history + cooking. This sorta thing is right up my alley.
Hmm... the answer is obviously 'yes', but I do think a big reason why this version from 58 is *just* so good is likely the stock base. My suggestion would be to work from a different Mapo Tofu recipe for the weeknight in the meantime (the internet's filled with solid ones), then try this one when you have a little time on a weekend.
It did work out pretty well, to be honest this was the first mapo tofu I've really enjoyed. Will definitely revisit this recipie without the handful of shortcuts I had to make.
So what I'm really curious about is how and why the douban ended up being a standard in contemporary versions. Was there a push by manufacturers or the government to increase consumption of the stuff in the mid-20th century? Are there other historical recipes for other dishes which use douban today that didn't include it?
Chefu in his writing says that douban was added to Mapo Tofu in the mid-20th century... which was why I was somewhat surprised to not see it in the footage from the early 1980s in the accompanying video! Apparently it was also added to the filling of Shaobing around that time.
It's obviously really difficult to say 'why' it was added, but my guess would be circling around Occam's Razor - people liked the way it tasted in Mapo Tofu. Further, Pixian Doubanjiang used to be a local specialty of Pixian... and as the food supply chain industrialized, it's possible that the product became more widely available. The Pixian route may also have the side benefit of slightly streamlining the stir-frying process.
1958?! That recently?
It seems counterinstinctive that it would be so late, but I'm confident that they're right for a couple of reasons 1. Proper recipes don't really show up until the 1930s, and those are mostly very bland Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisine. 2. Older books of Sichuan cuisine (like the mid-18c 醒园录) are mostly just names of dishes, and those are banquet cuisine, which unexpectedly enough is mostly seafood.
The earliest mention is in a 1909 guide (成都通览)--again, just a name and nothing else. The dish has certainly been around since much earlier, but it doesn't show up in print until the 1950s.
It's of course impossible to prove a negative, but if this isn't the earliest, it's certainly not far off.
Thanks again for your deep research. I really appreciate the care and love you put into these pieces.
I am just realizing that I have been cooking a far from standard version of Mapo Tofu for years, so I will now need to try out these recipes. I got started on MT trying out one of the recipes here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150630220835/http://luckypeach.com/three-dishes-mapo-tofu/
back in 2015 (first attempt was with the Mission Chinese recipe which adds Thai chilli, incorporates pork and beef, mushroom powder and white wine!). I wonder how much more the recipe has been altered since? I think I have seen an Italian pasta dish with Mapo Tofu flavors;)
Where can I find these 11 books? Any chance someone else has translated them? I have a strong interest in history + cooking. This sorta thing is right up my alley.
The books are now available on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/20250109_20250109_2336
No English translation, unfortunately :/
Would something like a more concentrated beef or pork stock thickened with gelatin be a tolerable sub for the weeknight chefs among us?
Hmm... the answer is obviously 'yes', but I do think a big reason why this version from 58 is *just* so good is likely the stock base. My suggestion would be to work from a different Mapo Tofu recipe for the weeknight in the meantime (the internet's filled with solid ones), then try this one when you have a little time on a weekend.
It did work out pretty well, to be honest this was the first mapo tofu I've really enjoyed. Will definitely revisit this recipie without the handful of shortcuts I had to make.
Could you please share any links you found to the 中国名菜谱 ? (it looks amazing!)
Hey so the books are now available on archive.org :)
https://archive.org/details/20250109_20250109_2336
So what I'm really curious about is how and why the douban ended up being a standard in contemporary versions. Was there a push by manufacturers or the government to increase consumption of the stuff in the mid-20th century? Are there other historical recipes for other dishes which use douban today that didn't include it?
Chefu in his writing says that douban was added to Mapo Tofu in the mid-20th century... which was why I was somewhat surprised to not see it in the footage from the early 1980s in the accompanying video! Apparently it was also added to the filling of Shaobing around that time.
It's obviously really difficult to say 'why' it was added, but my guess would be circling around Occam's Razor - people liked the way it tasted in Mapo Tofu. Further, Pixian Doubanjiang used to be a local specialty of Pixian... and as the food supply chain industrialized, it's possible that the product became more widely available. The Pixian route may also have the side benefit of slightly streamlining the stir-frying process.