Mapo Tofu
Mapo tofu is a popular Chinese tofu dish from the Sichuan Province. It's fragrant, savory, numbing, and addictively spicy! This spicy tofu dish takes less than 30 minutes to make and is incredible over rice or as a side dish. This mapo tofu has also been adapted so that it's mild to medium in spiciness.
- Prep time
- 5 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 16 ounces silken tofu (or soft tofu (Depending on the brand, the weight will be different. Anything between 14 and 18 ounces is fine.))
- 3 tablespoons oil (or as much as needed)
- 1 teaspoon Chinese chili pepper flakes (more or less to your spice preference (preferably powdered))
- ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn (grounded (more or less to your preference))
- 8 ounces ground pork (or ground beef)
- 2 tablespoons ginger (minced (about a 2 inch knob))
- 2 tablespoons garlic (minced (about 3 to 4 cloves))
- 1½ tablespoons spicy broad bean paste ((also known as spicy doubanjiang))
- 1½ cups water (or stock)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder ((optional))
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch ((mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water))
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil ((optional))
- 1 stalk green onion (thinly sliced (optional))
- Kosher salt (or fine salt (for blanching the tofu))
Instructions
- 1
Purge the tofu:
- 2
Remove the tofu from its container and drain the liquid. Cut the tofu into equal size cube, as best as possible, about ½ to 1 inch thick.
- 3
Fill a small pot with enough water to submerge the tofu. Gently place the cubed tofu into the water and add some salt.*We recommend about 1 teaspoon of salt per 6 cups of water.*
- 4
Place the pot on medium heat. Gently stir it occasionally while the water is heating up. Once the water starts to simmer and bubble, drain the tofu and set it aside.
- 5
Make the mapo tofu:
- 6
In a small pot, add the oil and heat it over medium low heat. Once the oil is hot, add the dry chili peppers and ground Sichuan peppercorn. Stir fry the peppers in the oil for about 15 to 30 seconds or until toasted.
- 7
Add the ground pork and cook until no longer pink and the fat starts to render, about 3 to 5 minutes. Make sure to stir and break up the ground pork to cook evenly.
- 8
To the ground pork, add the minced ginger, minced garlic, and spicy broad bean paste. Cook until everything is fragrant and well combined.
- 9
Add the water or stock and the purged tofu. Then, increase the heat to medium high to bring it to a boil. While waiting on the sauce to come to a boil, add the sugar and chicken stock powder. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat so that it's at a gentle simmer. Let the mapo tofu simmer for 3 to 5 minutes depending on how salty you like it. Make sure to occasionally stir the mapo tofu while it's simmering.*After simmering, you can taste the mapo tofu sauce to see if it needs a little more salt or if it needs to be slightly diluted with water.*
- 10
While waiting on the mapo tofu, combine the cornstarch with the water to make a slurry. After the mapo tofu is done simmering, give the cornstarch slurry a mix and drizzle it into the mapo tofu in three sessions. Make sure to stir the mapo tofu between each addition and wait for it to thicken before the next addition.*You can also add the cornstarch slurry all at once, but we find the mapo tofu to thicken better and stay thickened longer when adding the slurry in separate sessions.*
- 11
Once the slurry has been added and the mapo tofu has thickened, add the sesame oil and green onion. Give it a few gently stirs to combine and transfer the mapo tofu to a serving bowl.
- 12
Garnish the mapo tofu with more green onions and a bit of ground Sichuan peppercorn if you want. Enjoy with rice while hot!