Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu is a comforting tofu dish made with minced meat, aromatics, and fragrant chilies. It’s one of the traditional Chinese dishes originating from the province of Sichuan; famous for their bold, spicy, and numbing flavors!

Welcome to the FIFTH and final recipe of our five-part chili oil series where I’ll be sharing some of my favorite spicy recipes using our homemade chili oil!

The chili oil is incredibly easy to make and the best part is that you can store it in the fridge for weeks to use whenever you want.

What does mapo tofu taste like?

Mapo tofu has a deep savory, umami, and fermented taste brought about by doubanjiang, a spicy chili bean paste.

The overall dish is pleasantly spicy, deeply aromatic, and numbing. Yes, numbing. The sensation comes from one of our key ingredients: sichuan peppercorn, which is incredibly floral and balances out the heat from from this dish, allowing you to continue going for another bite!

This is the very essence of málà, one of the signature Sichuan flavor-profiles which combines both spicy and numbing flavors.

Ultimately, all these components come together to create a deliciously rich sauce that’s absorbed by the tofu and minced meat. It’s absolutely amazing when paired with white rice!

Ingredients

• ~275 g medium or firm tofu, cubed
• 100 g ground pork (substitute with beef/chicken, or fresh shiitake mushrooms for a vegetarian option)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 3 sprigs scallions, chopped (white and the green parts separated)
• 1 tbsp doubanjiang (also called chili/spicy bean sauce, toban djan, or tobanjiang)
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• Cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch + 2 tsp water)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 – 1 tsp sichuan peppercorns, ground (depending on your tastes)

Sauce:

• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1-2 tbsp chili oil
• 1.5 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine)
• 1/2 tsp rice vinegar

Some prep work, if you choose to

These are totally optional, but highly recommended! I like doing these two extra steps to ensure my Mapo tofu tastes just right, and I’ll also include an alternative to these steps if you choose to skip it.

Simmer the tofu

Bring a pot of water to a very gentle boil with 1/2 tbsp of salt. Drop your cubed tofu in the hot water and simmer for 2 minutes, being careful not to break the tofu cubes.

*What this ultimately does is it removes any unpleasant smells and flavors from the tofu, while at the same time slightly seasoning it with the salted water.

After 2 minutes, drain the tofu and set aside until cooking.

ALTERNATIVE: you can choose to skip this step entirely, or instead pour hot water all over the tofu in a bowl and drain.

Toast the Sichuan peppercorns

Toast 1/2 – 1 tsp of the whole Sichuan peppercorns in a pan (without oil) over medium heat for around 2-3 minutes. You’ll know they’re finished toasting when oil spots begin showing up on the bottom of your pan (coming from the peppercorns) and when their floral/fragrant aroma becomes stronger.

Remove the toasted peppercorns from the pan, and finely grind these. Set aside until use.

ALTERNATIVE: if you don’t feel like toasting or grinding the peppercorns yourself, you can also use powdered sichuan peppercorns for conveniency! They will be less rich and aromatic in flavor (since it’s pre-ground), but it’s definitely the much easier alternative.

Instructions for mapo tofu

Cut the tofu into cubes and optionally simmer in hot water. Drain, then set aside.

Prepare the sauce by combining together the soy sauce, chili oil, sugar, shaoxing wine, and rice vinegar. Mix well.

In a hot oiled pan or wok, saute the ground pork until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the garlic, ginger, green onions (white parts), and saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.

Add in the doubanjiang, and saute for another 1-2 minutes.

Pour in the prepared sauce, chicken stock, and cubed tofu. Let this simmer for around 3 minutes to allow the tofu to absorb some of the sauce.

Finally drizzle in the cornstarch slurry, sesame oil, and ground sichuan peppercorns. Gently stir to combine, and continue simmering until the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Serve with a side of rice and garnish with the green parts of the scallions. Enjoy!

Looking for more simple CHILI OIL recipes? Here are some of my favorites!:

• Seared Peanut Bok Choy
• Spicy Chili Oil Noodles
• Chili Oil Sinangag (Filipino garlic rice)
• Spicy Chicken Adobo