A Cooking Machine - Audience Building through Storytelling
This post is the seventh in a series detailing the processes behind a cooking machine's research, design, material selection, fundraising, assembly, and programming. See the column Stories of Food & Tech here.
Instagram is my go-to platform when building my audience. In this post, I will first share an original recipe of a traditional Chinese dish, Ma Po Tofu, which is told as an IGTV story on Instagram to illustrate my first direct engagement with my audience. Then, I will share the latest progress of building an audience on my social media account @food_tech_stories for the "Stories of Food & Tech" column.
Stories of Ma Po Tofu
Ma Po Tofu [i]
Dumpling House (Cambridge) Signature Dish
Ma Po Tofu, also known as "Sauteed Tofu in Hot and Spicy Sauce," is said to have originated from the Qin Dynasty in 1862. It was created by a female chef named Chen Ma Po, who cooked amazing Tofu dishes in her restaurant by the Wanfu Bridge in Chengdu Province. [ii]
Wanfu Bridge is a wide wooden bridge across the Ru River with affordable restaurants nearby, which has attracted many porters to stop by for a good rest and a nice meal. [iii] On this bridge, Chen Ma Po's restaurant was especially famous because she had a unique set of techniques, rendering her Tofu dish particularly spicy, hot, and tender.[iv] This dish was not only delicious when eaten with rice, but also inexpensive, making it accessible to a broader set of clients. People from across the country are said to have traveled to her restaurant for her famous Tofu dish.[v] Over time, this dish became one of the most popular dishes that Chinese people would order when hosting parties and banquets. Today, Ma Po Tofu has spread across the world. Her restaurant stands still after 160 years of drastic historical changes and continues to serve customers from all over the world. [vi]
Why is this dish called Ma Po Tofu? What do these two characters, "Ma" and "Po," mean in Chinese? Interestingly, Chen Ma Po's original first name wasn't Ma Po, but Qiaoqiao.[vii] In Chinese, "Ma" means freckles, and this was used as a signifier given that Qiaoqiao had beautiful freckles that her neighbors and friends adored.[viii] The addition of Po stems from her respected and elderly nature.[ix] As a result, this dish was named after Chen Ma Po to honor her contribution to this particularly delicious original dish.[x] Although many different chefs around China have reinvented cooking Ma Po Tofu, Chen Ma Po's original cooking method has always been highly respected.
Why do I like this Ma Po Tofu? Since my mother used to cook it a lot, this dish reminds me of many childhood memories that I cherish now that I have left home to live on my own. So whenever I eat it, it genuinely feels like eating a small bite of home.
Dish Recipe of Ma Po Tofu
Since there are many adaptations of Ma Po Tofu's recipe, I want to share the recipe that I like the most below. If you're going to try making this dish, make sure to adapt the spice and pepper levels according to your preferences.
If you find it too cumbersome to cook Ma Pot Tofu, I recommend trying it at a local Chinese restaurant. The Dumpling House in Cambridge cooks one of the most authentic Ma Po Tofu dishes. Therefore, if you want to try it sometimes, don't forget to stop by this dumpling house.
Dumpling House (Cambridge, MA) [xi]
What's your favorite dish growing up? Why do you like this dish so much? Please share your thoughts with me on your favorite dish at food.tech.stories@gmail.com. Follow me @food_tech_stories and DM me your opinions any time as well! If you want to cook Ma Po Tofu and share your cooking experience or cooking videos, email or DM me on IG, and you can potentially be featured on my next post!
Building a profile on Instagram
For this IG platform, I posted high-quality images of past demo dishes, hardware/software designs, and audience-building graphs with personalized explanations and emojis to attract an interested audience. I laid the groundwork for my account's profile; however, since I haven't shared my account with my friends, nor have I used the hashtag feature or tagged any of my followers, I barely reached any essential audience. Therefore, more direct engagement on/off the platforms is needed for future posts.
Apart from posting images, I also recorded and posted a four-minute video that tells the story of Ma Po Tofu. Although it looks like a simple video, it took me more than 2 hours to finally record a smooth and continuous take without looking at the script I prepared. I discovered that it's important to remember the food story by heart before recording a video; however, there is no need to strictly follow the script if it interrupts the flow of my story. In addition, I should always look directly into the camera and remind myself that I am engaging with my audience right now when I'm recording because my audience needs my full attention. The audience can always distinguish between someone reciting a script or someone telling the story from their heart. When I'm simply reciting the script, the story becomes dull; however, when I'm telling the story, I can share my inner passion through the screen and reaches my audience's heart.
Improve audience engagement on Instagram: Questionnaire / Interviews
Throughout building an Instagram account, I started to think about ways to improve my social media profile to attract more direct audience engagement. Therefore, I wrote a set of interview questions to send to my friends and followers to learn about my audience's preferences, such as specific content that my audience might be interested in. If you also want to provide feedback, click the link here to fill out this questionnaire. Your feedback can positively influence upcoming posts on this Instagram account.
For the next post, I'll share the initial feedback gathered from the questionnaires and interviews as well as some stories and videos engaging other audiences on social media. Stay tuned :)
[i] https://images.app.goo.gl/FHevKcREFZzX1UTo6 .
[ii] "Ma Po Tofu." Baidu Baike, https://baike.baidu.com/item/麻婆豆腐/30888. Accessed 19 September 2021.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Ibid.
[ix] Ibid.
[x] Ibid.