Mapo Tofu can be found in nearly any Chinese restaurant around the world with hundreds of variations adapting the piquant original to suit local tastes. This dish can also be called the Mapo Doufu. Mapo Tofu is a traditional Sichuan Cuisine Dish, is consisted of tofu set in a spicy sauce, typically a thin, oily, and bright red suspension, based on douban (fermented broadbean and chili paste) and douchi (fermented black beans), along with minced meat, usually pork or beef. Variations exist with other ingredients such as water chestnuts, onions, other vegetables, or wood ear fungus.
"Ma" stands for "ma-zi" (Chinese: mázi, 麻子) which means pockmarks. "Po" is the first syllable of "popo" (Chinese: 婆婆, pópo) which means an old woman or grandma. Hence, mapo is an old woman whose face is pockmarked. It is thus sometimes translated as "pockmarked grandma's beancurd".
