There are only but a handful of actual fried rice dishes that you can find on most Chinese restaurant menus or make at home. Most fried rice dishes come out of necessity to eat up the left overs that are sitting around in the fridge; which coincidentally was the way my famous, smoked meat poutine with half sour pickles, chicken wings and blueberry pie fried rice was invented.
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Recipes
Char siu literally means “fork roasted” – this name comes the two-pronged skewer that the pork is traditionally roasted on. The sweet and savoury roasted pork is succulent that leaves fingers craved to be sucked on and lips to be smacked (yes, I’m still talking about char siu). There’s a classic Chinese saying that states, “The versatility of char siu and its appearance in 80% of chinese dishes is comparable to the vast array of film character portrayed by Kevin Spacey.” Well, no; Chinese people don’t actually say that, I just made that up… but you know what I mean.
I would love to say that this recipe for mapo tofu is a secret family recipe, passed on from generation to generation… but it’s not. My mom has a version of this dish that she makes for her grandkids that is more mild, less spicy and child friendly that she has adopted as her own signature recipe. “Mapo” translates to a name you call your grandmother. I grew up eating this dish and up until I was older and saw this dish listed on a restaurant menu, I thought this dish was something specific to our family; without an official name having calling it “grandma’s tofu” all this time. Adapting my mom’s recipe, I’ve developed this version that’s a spicier, a bit more authentic and true to a traditional typical szechuan dish.