Ma Po Tofu AKA 麻婆豆腐

Ma Po Tofu is a well-known dish from the Sichuan province of China.It is a combination of tofu (bean curd) and minced meat(usually pork or beef) in a spicy bean-based sauce.

There's also a story behind the name of this dish (story may be purely mythic/anecdota) - Ma stands for "Ma Zi" (麻子) which means a person disfigured by pockmarks. Po (婆) translates as "old woman". Hence, Ma Po is an old woman whose face was pockmarked. Legend says that the pock-marked old woman (Pinyin: má pó) was a widow who lived in the Chinese city of Chengdu. Due to her condition, her home was placed on the outskirts of the city. By coincidence, it was near a road where traders often passed. Although the rich merchants could afford to stay within the numerous inns of the prosperous city while waiting for their goods to sell, poor farmers would stay in cheaper inns scattered along the sides of roads on the outskirts of the ancient city.

It is said that the first people who tasted the old woman's cooking were a farmer and his son who arrived late to the city during a terrible rainstorm. They were forced to find shelter in the old woman's home having found that all of the inns were full.

Pleased with the company, the old woman prepared them a meal from her paltry larder, including the dish now known as Ma Po Dou fu. The dish was so delicious that soon each time the father and son passed the old woman's home, they would stay for a meal. In this way, the old woman's renown spread as others joined the father and son in visiting and staying at her home. These visitors would often bring the ingredients for her dish so as not to burden her larder.

As time passed, the dish evolved. However, the staple ingredients have always been ground pork/beef, tofu, and ground Sichuan pepper. - Wikipedia

Ingredients
300g of silken tofu (diced)
150g of minced pork
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
3 tablespoon of chili bean sauce

Preparation
Stir fry garlic in 2 tablespoons of oil till fragrant.
Toss in minced pork and continue to cook till pork is slightly browned.
Stir in the chili bean sauce.
Pour in 150ml of water together with the tofu.

Stir very gently to mix well.
Bring everything to a boil and simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Garnish with chopped spring onions before serving. (optional)