"Lai" Rice Balls, Ma Po Tofu or "Measled Woman" Bean Curd (Sichuan food)

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>...the excellent bean curd with spicy sauce ($7.25) is named after a woman
>with ''a spotty, pockmarked face.''
>(MY DISH TONIGHT--ed.)
>(...)
>Ma po tofu, bean curd with spicy minced pork and chili peppers ($8.25), is
>a classic Sichuan dish, invented, the guide explains, by an old woman with
>a face pockmarked by measles.

Folk etymology?

-- Doug Wilson