How Mapo Tofu Came to Japan: Chen Kenmin and Sichuan CookingFrom Chengdu’s Chen Mapo Tofu to a TV cooking show
Mapo tofu sauce mix is sold in every Japanese supermarket today. A Sichuan home dish became a Japanese staple largely thanks to one chef.
A Sichuan dish
Mapo tofu is a Sichuan dish. It is said to be based on the tofu served at Chen Mapo Tofu in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.[1]
Sichuan cooking is known for mala: the heat of chili (la) combined with the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper (ma). How it differs from Cantonese, Shanghai and Beijing cooking is covered in Four Styles of Chinese Cuisine.
A chef from Sichuan
The chef who spread mapo tofu in Japan was Chen Kenmin, from Sichuan, sometimes called “the father of Sichuan cuisine in Japan.”[1]
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1912 | Born in Yibin, Sichuan[2] |
| 1947–48 | Moves to Taiwan, then Hong Kong, where he opens a Sichuan restaurant[2] |
| 1952 | Comes to Japan[2][3] |
| 1958 | Opens Shisen Hanten with partners (some sources say 1957)[2][3] |
| 1970 | Founds the Akasaka Shisen Hanten group[3] |
| 1990 | Dies at 77[2] |
Rather than serving Sichuan food unchanged, he is said to have adjusted the flavors to suit Japanese diners.[2]
From TV to home kitchens
Mapo tofu reached home kitchens through television. Chen presented his recipe on NHK’s cooking program Kyō no Ryōri, and viewers began making it at home.[1][2]
Ebi chili, too
Ebi chili, chili shrimp, now a Chinese-restaurant standard in Japan, is another dish he popularized. It was originally a Sichuan dish called gan shao xia ren, renamed “ebi chili sauce” for Japanese diners.[2]
His son, Chen Kenichi, was the Chinese Iron Chef on the TV show Iron Chef.[2]