Ma Po Tofu with Ground Pork at Sichuan Pavilion. Photo by Pat Padua

Dish of the Week: Mapo Tofu

Where: Panda Gourmet, Sichuan Pavilion, Great Wall, Joe’s Noodle House, and many other Chinese restaurants in wildly varying quality and spice level.

This Sichuan comfort food was created by a woman who had scars from a childhood bout of smallpox. Hence its name translates to “your pockmarked grandmother’s tofu.” I wouldn’t order this from your neighborhood Cantonese-and-cheesesteak dive, but the cut of a Chinese restaurant’s jib can reliably be measured by its success with this tongue-numbing dish.

Tofu may make the casual diner think “vegan,” but the dish is meant to be prepared with minced pork or beef. The tofu is not a meat substitute, but rather a powerful conduit for the flavor of Sichuan peppercorns. The variations around town differ subtly, and my favorite seems to change weekly. Sichuan Pavilion’s (1814 K Street NW) version has all the heat and flavor of Great Wall’s (1527 14th Street NW) but is less oily. Joe’s Noodle House (1488 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.) makes a relatively mild plate while Panda Gourmet’s (2700 New York Avenue NE), my current favorite, may be the most incendiary. With flu season approaching, a numbing chili blast may be just what the doctor ordered.

Small Bites

Fall for Fall Dining
Tom Sietesma’s Washington Post 2014 Fall Dining Guide is now available online. Diners looking for the unambiguous guidance of a bullet list will appreciate the guide’s new feature highlighting Sietsema’s Top 10, with top honors go to Penn Quarter standby Rasika.

Waterfront Mama
Mama Rouge (3000 K Street NW) brings a marriage of Southeast Asian and French cuisine to the Georgetown Waterfront next week. Chef/Owner Aulie Bunyarataphan and husband/Partner Mel Oursinsiri (formerly Bangkok Joe’s, currently T.H.A.I. and Tom Yum District) launch their new venture with regular lunch, dinner, and brunch service on Tuesday, October 14. Guests may begin making reservations through the restaurant website now.

What has Four Seasons and Flies?
Four Seasons Hotel Washington hosts a food truck from October 13 to 18 with all menu items priced between $3 and $9. Four Seasons’ Douglas Anderson and Bourbon Steak’s Joe Palma will offer their take on street food for a Battle of the Chefs. The menu will include a kale Caesar salad, halfsmoke, grilled kimcheese, lamb burgers, bulgogie short rib sandwich, mojo-spiced chicken kebabs, BBQ-spiced french fries, and desserts. Proceeds from the Medstar Washington Hospital Center stop on Wednesday, October 15, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be donated to the hospital’s Washington Cancer Institute. Find the truck Tuesday and Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 2 p.m., at PNC Georgetown.

Seasons at Sweetgreen
The popular organic chain launched its new seasonal menu on October 7th with salads that feature apples, pears and organic cheddar; roasted turkey and fall vegetables; and a curry cauliflower and quinoa bowl. New grains include Wild Child, a wild rice mixture with fruit and veggies in a miso dressing and a Harvest Bowl of wild rice in a balsamic vinaigrette.

Cava Grill Coming to Chinatown
The fast casual chain opens its sixth location at 707 H Street NW, on Tuesday, October 14.