I’m such a big fan of Szechuan Ma Po tofu that I could write a poem about it ! ha-ha !
I couldn’t resign to make a variant recipe. It’s so perfect, why, why would I cook it differently from how it is ? This is how it is ment to be !
But I decided to trust you Maangchi and I don’t regret it ;)
The Korean style Ma Po tofu looks and tastes very different but has it’s own personnality, that’s why it is good, in a different way but good anyway !
Szechuan Ma Po tofu is like a hot late evening in a heatwave when Korean style Ma Po tofu is like a getting sunburnt during a walk on a bright day.
Sweet, spicy spicy and yes, refreshing :)
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My cookbooks
Which to get? my first book has all the recipes for all the essential Korean pastes and sauces, but my second book Maangchi's Big Book of Korean Cooking has more recipes. Both are best sellers and either one is a good choice if you want to learn Korean home cooking.
Maangchi's recipes by category:
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I love spicy food :)
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“Szechuan Ma Po tofu is like a hot late evening in a heatwave when Korean style Ma Po tofu is like a getting sunburnt during a walk on a bright day.”
That means Korean style is spicier? haha! BTW, what a great mapa dubu meal!
Hello Maangchi !
I would’nt say spicier even if the effect is more obvious.
Doubanjiang, marinated chilies and Szechuan pepper-corn give a deep, radiant and overwhelming spiciness.
Gochugaru, green chili pepper and gochujang give an instantaneous kick, a sharp and bright spiciness.
One has the voice of a baritone, the other has the voice of a soprano.
And at the end, the two songs will make you sweat !!
Yeah it was a wonderful meal, the eggplant side dish in order to cool down the spiciness, kimchi because it’s a Korean meal and rice of course (half rice and half lentils regarding the few extra pounds I gained this year :)
As a conclusion to this post, I couldn’t resist to send you a picture of the Ma Po tofu made last night in its original version.
And actually I think about developping my own version based on both Sichuan an Korean versions…
See full size image