Mapo tofu 

Mapo tofu is a tofu and meat dish cooked in a spicy chilli bean sauce.  Now it is a popular dish all over the world, it is a traditional dish in Sichuan (Szechuan) cuisine. I really love this dish and I was delighted whenever my family ordered it. The dish packs a fiery savoury punch and we always needed more rice than usual to enjoy all of the spicy sauce. The sauce has a numbing and lip-stinging effect depending on how much Sichuan pepper is added, though the home cooked version is usually toned down in terms of numbness.

Mapo tofu can also be found in other Chinese provinces and in Korea, Japan, where the flavor is adapted to local tastes. In Japan, where the dish is calledマーボー豆腐, it was introduced by Chen Kenmin who opened the first Sichuanese restaurant in Tokyo in the 1950s. Instead of using only the salty and spicy bean paste, Chen also adopted sweet bean paste in the recipe and make the dish less spicy and less oily. In the west, the dish is often adulterated, with its spiciness severely toned down to widen its appeal.