Chapter 73: Please Try the Mapo Tofu
After a moment, Li You said, "The tofu should be ready now. Let’s take a look together."
Hearing this, everyone once again felt a surge of anticipation.
They hoped the quality of the tofu would be to Li You’s satisfaction.
They hadn’t forgotten about the mapo tofu.
They were all desperate to eat mapo tofu today.
And Li You would only make it if the quality of the tofu was satisfactory to him.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Li You lifted the bucket down, removed the cover, and peeled back the cheesecloth.
A large block of white, tender tofu appeared.
It had set perfectly.
This tofu is beautiful!
"Boss, how is it? Are you satisfied with the quality of this tofu?" Zhao Yanglin asked impatiently.
Li You nodded and said, "It’s not bad. We can make mapo tofu with this."
As soon as he said this, everyone present, with the exception of Lin Guodong and his group, was overjoyed.
This included Ye Shengge, Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng.
Finally, finally, they could eat the boss’s mapo tofu.
Meanwhile, Xia Xiaoyue, Yu Wei, and the other women were thinking, ’Finally, we can eat some truly delicious mapo tofu!’
Lin Guodong and his friends, however, were a little confused. ’It’s just tofu, is it really something to be this happy about?’
Of course, they knew what mapo tofu was, and they even made it at home.
’Sure, it’s delicious. But there’s no need to get this excited, right?’
’Wait, it must be because the mapo tofu this young man makes is exceptionally good. It’s definitely much better than the mapo tofu we make at home.’
Lin Guodong and his friends had found their answer.
They couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. A single dish could make the customers this happy. ’This young man’s restaurant is really something else.’
Then, Lin Guodong said to Li You, "Young man, now that the tofu is made, we’ll be heading back."
Li You said, "Uncle Guodong, don’t be in such a hurry to leave. I made this tofu to introduce mapo tofu to the menu. Now that it’s ready, please let me treat you to some."
Then he turned to the others and said, "We all made this tofu together today. So, I’ve decided to offer everyone a free tasting of the mapo tofu."
As soon as he said it, the women cheered.
"The boss is the best!"
"Thank you, Boss!"
...
Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng smiled and said, "In that case, we won’t be polite. Thank you, Boss."
Seeing everyone’s reaction, Lin Guodong and his group didn’t refuse either. They all smiled and said, "Well, thank you then, young man."
Li You told everyone not to thank him, then carried the tofu into the kitchen.
There were about eight jin of tofu. ’I’ll use six jin to cook for everyone.’
’I’ll take the remaining two jin back to the village tonight for Mom and Dad. While I’m at it, I can bring some over for Li Zhong’s and Liu Jialiang’s families to try.’
As for running out of tofu again, that didn’t matter.
He would just sell mapo tofu again the next time he made a batch of medium-quality tofu.
First, he stored about two jin of tofu in the Storage Pavilion.
Then, he officially began to cook.
Besides the main ingredient, tofu, mapo tofu also requires minced meat.
Minced pork or minced beef would both work. ’I’ll just use pork.’
Then he needed seasonings like doubanjiang, chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, green garlic shoots, soy sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, starch, and salt.
He had all of these.
First, he took out some pork and minced it. Then, he added a suitable amount of cooking wine and salt to marinate it.
Next, he cut all the tofu into small 2-centimeter cubes.
He brought a pot of water to a boil.
After the water boiled, he added some salt, then put the tofu in to blanch it.
This step was very important.
This not only removed the tofu’s astringent taste but also kept it tender and made it less likely to break apart.
Without this step, the tofu in the finished dish would be too tough and have a poor texture.
After blanching, he set the tofu aside.
Then, he finely chopped all the fermented broad beans within the doubanjiang he was going to use.
This step was also important.
Otherwise, it would seriously affect the appearance and texture of the final dish.
Next, he continued preparing the other supplementary ingredients.
...
While Li You worked in the kitchen, all the customers—including Ye Shengge, Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, Xia Xiaoyue, and Lin Guodong—waited and chatted in the dining area.
The topic of their conversation was all about mapo tofu.
Xia Xiaoyue asked He Xianfei, "Chef He, they say mapo tofu is defined by eight characteristics: ’numbing, spicy, hot, fragrant, crispy, tender, fresh, and living.’ What do these eight words mean exactly? Could you please explain them to us?"
Hearing Xia Xiaoyue’s question, the other women also looked at He Xianfei with anticipation.
Xia Xiaoyue and the others had learned about He Xianfei’s identity as a senior chef and the head chef of a five-star hotel.
He was, without a doubt, a top master in the culinary world.
That’s why they all wanted to ask him about this.
Seeing all the young women looking at him expectantly, He Xianfei smiled faintly and said, "First, ’numbing’ and ’spicy.’ Everyone can understand these two. The numbing and spicy sensations in this dish are deeply satisfying and quite addictive.
Then, ’hot.’ This refers to how the nature of tofu helps the dish retain its temperature after coming out of the wok, so it doesn’t cool down easily. Every bite tastes like it’s fresh from the pan.
Next is ’fragrant.’ A truly well-made mapo tofu has no hint of the taste of gypsum, nor any of the unpleasant original smells of the various seasonings. All that remains are layers of aroma: the savory fragrance of the doubanjiang, the spicy aroma of the chilies, the rich scent of pork or beef, the sharp perfume of green garlic, the numbing fragrance of the Sichuan peppercorns, and so on—endless.
After that comes ’crispy.’ This refers to the minced meat, which should be reddish-brown and crisp, not stiff. It should be so crisp it melts in your mouth, complementing the tofu perfectly.
Then there’s ’tender.’ This describes the tofu, which is as white as jade. Though it has clear edges and corners, it is so delicate it crumbles with a pinch, and is smooth and soft in the mouth.
Next is ’fresh.’ First, this refers to the freshness of the ingredients. Second, it means the finished dish is impeccable in its color, flavor, and aroma—the epitome of freshness.
Finally, there is ’living.’ This characteristic is the very essence of mapo tofu. It means that when the dish is first served, the tofu quivers and trembles as if alive. The inch-long green garlic shoots stand half-erect in the dish, glistening and verdant as if just picked from the earth, yet they have no raw taste when you eat them."
After He Xianfei finished his explanation, Xia Xiaoyue, Yu Wei, and the other women all had a look of sudden understanding.
’So that’s what it all means.’
’This is clearly no simple dish. No wonder it’s so famous.’
Then, their anticipation for Li You’s mapo tofu grew even stronger.
Lin Guodong and his friends thought to themselves, ’So there’s this much that goes into mapo tofu.’
’It seems the mapo tofu we used to make at home wasn’t the real, sophisticated deal.’
’A truly well-made mapo tofu must be so much more delicious.’
’No wonder those people were so happy earlier.’
...
「In the kitchen.」
Li You was still at work.
The minced pork had been fried until crisp. This was the key to the ’crispy’ characteristic from the eight-word mantra.
All the other prep work was also complete.
He heated oil in the wok again, added the various supplementary ingredients in sequence, and stir-fried them until fragrant...
After a series of steps, the mapo tofu was plated.
After plating, he sprinkled on Sichuan peppercorns that had been toasted in the wok and ground, as well as specially prepared green garlic shoots.
The authentic mapo tofu, embodying all eight characteristics—numbing, spicy, hot, fragrant, crispy, tender, fresh, and living—was officially ready.
There were fifteen servings in total.
This should be enough for all the customers to have a taste.
...