Mahbo Doufu (A spicy Japanese tofu dish)

I can't eat spicy foods. If I eat red pepper flakes I get diarrhea almost immediately. So I avoid them at all costs. Therefore I have never enjoyed eating anything traditionally considered spicy, and tried to avoid Mahbo Doufu, too.

My husband, on the other hand, cannot eat a meal without shaking red pepper flakes into EVERY DISH on the table. He adds it liberally to soups, sauces, noodles, 冷奴 (a cold tofu dish), etc, often even before tasting something to see if it needs it first. Although his name is 茂樹, it really should be spelled 刺激. haha ( I just made a pun in Japanese. My husband's name, Shigeki, can be spelled another way [also shigeki], meaning 'stimulation'.)

One time, my friend Yuko made a very nice, non-spicy Mahbo Doufu for lunch at church and I really liked it. Instead of red pepper, it gets its flavor from ginger and garlic, negi (leeks) and soy sauce. Very delicious! She explained the recipe, but I haven't tried it at home, despite wanting to make it.

My husband cooks a couple of times a week and one day he said, "What would you like for supper?" I was thinking how yummy Yuko's dish was, so I answered, "How about Mahbo Doufu?" He went out and bought a packet of Mahbo Doufu instant flavoring that you just add to tofu and negi. But he was sure to get 'mild' or 'sweet' for my sake. After I ate my fill of it, he finished off the rest, after shaking half a bottle of red pepper flakes into it. Even though it wasn't Yuko's recipe, it was very good. And I didn't have any upset in my intestinal tract at all-- I am so relieved! I can eat mild Mahbo Doufu!! How liberating!