It’s fascinating; there’s such a long tradition in China of officials trying to understand what’s happening by going among the people all over the country and writing everything down, but I never realised the govt did that in the 50s
wow. I seriously so appreciate your deep analysis and the step-by-step translation! Thank you for sharing this with us. I came back from a visit to Shanghai last fall and have been experiencing immense withdrawal from the deliciousness that is Chinese food. I'm hoping to conquer the anxiety I get when going to Chinese grocery stores and the laziness I feel when having to pick up certain ingredients I have to go out of my way for and do more Chinese cooking this year. Your posts have been continuing to empower me in the endeavor!
This is truly fascinating. If you eat at Chen Mapo today, it seems like they do use Pixian douban, and I know for certain that they use only a tiny bit of beef, like only a tablespoon or two as a garnish. And it comes in a still-sizzling super hot clay pot. The dish clearly is still evolving! As food does....
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;)
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.
Incredible deep dive and context around the authors and how the setting of how and in what context recipes were prepared can change the taste and experience over time. Those 11 volumes is a treasure trove of history to be able to reference!
Thank you for this research. It’s returned a piece of my soul. I just recently wrote about growing up in the 80s. This dish is phenomenal and I can’t wait to try this legendary recipe.
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.
1958?! That recently?
well think mala existed for longer too
I love mapo toufu, too bad that I had to reduce spicy food to almost 0 to avoid raising Yangqi.
It’s fascinating; there’s such a long tradition in China of officials trying to understand what’s happening by going among the people all over the country and writing everything down, but I never realised the govt did that in the 50s
wow. I seriously so appreciate your deep analysis and the step-by-step translation! Thank you for sharing this with us. I came back from a visit to Shanghai last fall and have been experiencing immense withdrawal from the deliciousness that is Chinese food. I'm hoping to conquer the anxiety I get when going to Chinese grocery stores and the laziness I feel when having to pick up certain ingredients I have to go out of my way for and do more Chinese cooking this year. Your posts have been continuing to empower me in the endeavor!
This is truly fascinating. If you eat at Chen Mapo today, it seems like they do use Pixian douban, and I know for certain that they use only a tiny bit of beef, like only a tablespoon or two as a garnish. And it comes in a still-sizzling super hot clay pot. The dish clearly is still evolving! As food does....
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;)
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.
Incredible deep dive and context around the authors and how the setting of how and in what context recipes were prepared can change the taste and experience over time. Those 11 volumes is a treasure trove of history to be able to reference!
Made this with a chunk of the cheapest pork roast I could find and it still turned out delicious. Thank you for translating this awesome recipe!
Thank you for this research. It’s returned a piece of my soul. I just recently wrote about growing up in the 80s. This dish is phenomenal and I can’t wait to try this legendary recipe.
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 :/
i’ll be doing recipes from post cultural revolution china
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.
I’ve learnt that adding some white radish to the stock makes the beef flavor immensely more flavorful, just a bit gives it extra oomph
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