Dan Gui Sichuan Cuisine Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐 Price

Dan Gui Sichuan Cuisine’s Mapo Tofu is a traditional Szechuan entree featuring soft tofu in a spicy and savory sauce. The preparation of this popular menu item at Dan Gui involves simmering silken tofu cubes in a bright red, oily sauce with ground meat. The sauce's complex flavor is built from key ingredients like doubanjiang (fermented broad bean paste), fermented black beans, chili, and Sichuan peppercorns. This combination creates the signature "mala" sensation, a tingling numbness on the tongue from the peppercorns followed by a wave of chili heat. The Dan Gui Sichuan Cuisine Mapo Tofu price is $21.99.

The Mapo Tofu at Dan Gui is compared to the version at Chengdu Taste, another restaurant known for authentic Szechuan cooking. While both restaurants offer a classic preparation, variations can exist in the intensity of the Sichuan peppercorn's numbing effect and the richness of the sauce. A simple beverage like a Black Ice Tea or Diet Coke helps to temper the dish's heat. The Mapo Tofu also pairs well with vegetable sides. The crisp, garlicky flavor of the Garlic A Choy or the Stir-Fried Green Beans provides a textural contrast to the soft tofu and rich sauce. The restaurant is noted by customers for providing ample portion sizes at a fair price point.

The history of Mapo Tofu dates to the 19th century in Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan province, and its name is said to mean "pockmarked old woman's tofu," after its creator. As a benchmark dish of the cuisine, the quality of a restaurant's Mapo Tofu is often used by diners to judge its authenticity.