Probably the best known of Sichuan Cuisine's hot and spicy delicacies, Stir-fried Tofu in Hot Sauce is actually quite a young dish by Chinese standards. During the reign of Emperor Tongzhi (1862 - 1875) of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), a woman, remembered as having a rather pockmarked face, opened a small restaurant in Chengdu and began serving customers a peculiar tofu dish no one had tried before. Being both tasty and cheap, the dish was a hit and her business thrived. People named the specialty "Mapo Doufu" in honor of her – the Chinese literally means "tofu by the pockmarked woman." In the late Qing Dynasty the dish became a famous delicacy in Chengdu and was mentioned in A General View of Chengdu, published in 1908.

Nowadays, Stir-fried Tofu in Hot Sauce is not only found at restaurants throughout China, but also in Chinese restaurants around the world. The dish featured in Chinese Culinary Highlights, a 1981 cuisine project jointly compiled by food experts in China and Japan. Nowadays, Japanese companies also produce canned versions of the dish for world markets.

The dish's ingredients are simple – tofu, minced beef, chili powder, pepper powder and broad bean paste. Cut the tofu into one-centimeter cubes. Add a little water to a wok and bring it to almost boiling, add tofu cubes. Boil briefly before removing tofu cubes. Next, chop garlic sprouts into roughly one centimeter sections. Place the wok over high heat until hot and add cooking oil. Place minced beef in the wok and stir-fry on high heat. Add broad bean paste, salt and soy sauce and stir-fry, before adding chili powder, chicken stock and the tofu cubes. Finally, add garlic sprouts, a dash of cornflour and water and pepper. It is then ready to be served. This dish is crispy, delicious, fresh, hot, spicy and can even be face-numbing (courtesy of the pepper). Prepared well, the chili oil keeps the tofu warm, and as such the dish is a great one to combat winter cold.