Mapo Tofu – Takes Two Eggs

Straightforward mapo tofu is made with wealthy and mouthwatering Sichuan flavors and might be made in beneath half-hour! Mapo tofu combines silken tofu and floor pork in a masterpiece of a sauce made with aromatic aromatics, Sichuan peppercorns, spicy broad bean paste (doubanjiang), and different umami seasonings.

Every chew of this spicy mapo tofu creates a spicy and savory mouthfeel, that leaves a tingly, numbing sensation which retains you coming again for extra. Pair this Sichuan mapo tofu with steamed rice for probably the most scrumptious straightforward weekday meal.

What’s Mapo Tofu?

Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐, ma po dou fu) is a well-liked Chinese language tofu dish originating from the Sichuan province. The identify interprets to “pockmarked grandma’s tofu.” This tofu dish is understood for its daring, spicy, and mouth-numbing options.

Mapo tofu usually options comfortable tofu cubes and floor pork or beef simmered in a spicy mapo tofu sauce created from doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili oil.

Elements

You’ll find all these mapo tofu components at your native Chinese language or Asian grocery market. I’ve linked all the pieces that I used under.

Floor Pork Seasoning

• Floor pork: for this mapo tofu recipe, I used floor pork however alternatively you need to use floor beef or rooster.
• Shaoxing Wine: Shaoxing wine seasons the protein so as to add complexity and tenderize the meat.
• Gentle Soy Sauce: mild soy sauce provides a salty umami taste to the bottom pork.
• Ginger and Garlic: ginger and garlic are the core aromatics for this Sichuan mapo tofu.

Mapo Tofu Sauce

• Doubangjiang: doubanjiang or spicy broad bean sauce is a MUST-have ingredient. No substitutions might be made for this ingredient.
• Sichuan Peppercorns: Sichuan peppercorns or hua jiao add a citrusy taste and the enduring mouth-numbing and tingly sensation. Be certain to toast them barely on the range earlier than grinding and cooking within the recipe.
• Low Sodium Hen Inventory: low sodium rooster inventory provides further savory taste with out an excessive amount of added salt.
• Chili Oil: Chili oil or chili crisp provides further spicy flavors and aromatics. You should use selfmade chili oil or store-bought chili oil.
• Darkish Soy Sauce: darkish soy sauce provides a contact of umami sweetness and in addition contributes to the darker wealthy shade.
• Hen Bouillon Powder: rooster bouillon powder provides one other layer of savoriness with out added liquid.
• 5 Spice Powder: five-spice powder provides a novel sweetness and heat to the mapo tofu sauce.
• Granulated Sugar: granulated sugar balances and neutralizes the warmth from the spicy components.
• Silken Tofu: silken tofu yields the softest type of tofu and can be very straightforward to collapse if stirred too extensively.
• Inexperienced Onion: inexperienced onion provides one other fragrant layer.
• Sesame Oil: sesame oil is a ending ingredient that provides a contact of nutty umami taste.
• Cornstarch: cornstarch thickens the mapo tofu sauce.

What’s doubanjiang?

Doubanjiang (豆瓣酱)(là dòubàn jiàng, or tobanjiang), also called spicy broad bean paste or spicy fermented bean paste is the important thing ingredient for mapo tofu. It’s usually a reddish brown and has a chunky texture. Doubanjiang is created from fermented broad beans, soybeans, salt, rice, and different spices. The fermentation creates a spicy, deep, earthy, and wealthy umami taste.

Totally different manufacturers yield completely different ranges of spiciness and saltiness. I used Lee Kum Kee doubanjiang on this recipe however for a extra genuine taste use Pixian broad bean paste which is from a small Sichuan province So you could want to regulate the seasonings to style.

Substitutions and Additions

You may customise your ma po tofu with the next ideas.

Substitutions

• Protein: floor beef and floor rooster are different proteins which are simply as scrumptious.
• Vegetarian mapo tofu: use chopped shiitake mushrooms as an alternative of floor pork and Vegetable inventory as an alternative of rooster inventory.
• Inventory: as an alternative of Hen inventory, you need to use water or vegetable inventory.
• Tofu: if you’re involved in regards to the tofu falling aside too simply, you need to use agency, medium, or comfortable Tofu as properly.

Additions

• Greens: bell peppers, mushrooms, snow peas, and child corn can add extra vitamins and flavors.
• Spice stage: for added spiciness, add extra Sichuan peppercorns or chili oil.
• Aromatics: cilantro, further garlic, and additional ginger can have extra pungent fragrant flavors.
• Oyster sauce: add oyster sauce to experiment with extra umami savory flavors.

The best way to Make Mapo Tofu

Listed below are the easy-to-follow steps for how one can make mapo tofu.

1. Marinate the pork. In a mixing bowl, add floor pork, Shaoxing wine, mild soy sauce, and ginger. Combine till mixed.

2. Add the garlic, pork, and doubanjiang. In a wok or massive skillet over medium warmth, warmth 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil till sizzling. Add the garlic and saute till aromatic, about 1 minute. Subsequent, add the pork and doubanjiang and break them into small bits. Combine and mix till the spicy chili bean paste and pork have cooked by way of, about 4-5 minutes.

4. Add the remaining components. Add the Sichuan floor peppercorns, low sodium rooster inventory, chili oil, rooster bouillon powder, 5 spice powder, and sugar. Combine till mixed. Deliver the combination to a boil.

5. Add cornstarch slurry. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water till mixed. When it reaches a boil, add the cornstarch slurry and gently stir till the sauce thickens.

6. Add tofu. Unfold the tofu evenly on prime of the pork and utilizing a big spoon fastidiously scoop the pork and sauce beneath and fold on prime of the tofu till all the pieces is coated. Prepare dinner for two minutes till the tofu is heat.

7. Add inexperienced onion and sesame oil. Add the sesame oil and inexperienced onion and gently stir till simply integrated. Take away from the warmth.

8. Serve. Garnish with a sprinkle of Sichuan peppercorn and serve with a bowl of steamed rice. Get pleasure from!

Professional Suggestions

• Toast the Sichuan peppercorns. Earlier than grinding the peppercorns, flippantly toast them on a skillet over medium warmth for 30 seconds to 1 minute to boost their taste, scale back the bitterness, and improve the tingling numbing sensation.
• Deal with the tofu with care. For silken tofu, it tends to collapse actually simply. Whenever you add within the tofu cubes, don’t transfer them an excessive amount of, and use a spoon to pour the recent mapo tofu sauce on prime of the tofu to warmth them up.
• Use good high quality chili oil. Chili oil is a vital ingredient on this mapo tofu recipe. Use high quality store-bought chili oil or make it your self with this selfmade chili oil.
• Style and alter based mostly on preferences. Style your spicy mapo tofu as you cook dinner and alter the spices and seasonings based mostly in your preferences. Totally different manufacturers of doubanjiang and chili oil will differ the flavors and spice ranges.

Storage Directions

Enable the mapo tofu to chill fully to room temperature after which retailer it in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days.

Reheat: to reheat mapo tofu you may microwave lined till heat or cook dinner the mapo tofu on the range prime in a pot with a lid stirring often till heat.

Freeze: you may make mapo tofu prematurely after which freeze it in an hermetic container within the freezer for as much as 3 months. Notice that the tofu texture could change into denser and chewier when freezing. Defrost within the fridge in a single day earlier than reheating.

Steadily Requested Q’s and A’s

What sort of tofu is greatest for Mapo tofu?

Historically comfortable or silken tofu is used for its melt-in-your-mouth texture. Nonetheless, there is no such thing as a unsuitable selection right here. You should use medium, agency, or further agency tofu which is much less more likely to collapse when mixing.

Do I must blanch the tofu first?

No. However if you’re nervous in regards to the comfortable falling aside, you may blanch the cubes in boiling salted water for two minutes to agency up the tofu to forestall it from breaking up as simply when cooking.

Can I make mapo tofu vegetarian or vegan?

Sure! you may make a vegetarian or vegan mapo tofu by omitting the pork and utilizing mushrooms or another plant-based floor meat substitute. Additionally, substitute the rooster inventory and rooster bouillon powder for vegetable inventory and mushroom powder.

Can I make a much less oily mapo tofu?

Sure, you may scale back the pink oily layer on prime by lowering the quantity of chili oil and utilizing leaner much less fatty meat.

Can I make mapo tofu with out Sichuan peppercorns?

Sure! You may nonetheless make the Chinese language mapo tofu with out the Sichuan peppercorns and it’ll get rid of the numbing feeling. Substitute with a small quantity of white pepper for the same taste profile.

How do I serve mapo tofu?

Serve your mapo tofu with steamed rice, noodles, or fried rice. For an added vegetable facet dish, you may serve it with garlic inexperienced beans or garlic bok choy.

Why is my mapo tofu sauce not thickened?

Make sure the mapo sauce has come to a slight boil earlier than including the cornstarch slurry. Preserve simmering the sauce till it will definitely thickens. If that doesn’t work, add one other teaspoon of cornstarch till it thickens.

Did you make this Mapo Tofu?

When you made this dish and beloved it, please depart a overview and remark under. We might enormously recognize it!

Share your dish with us on Instagram, and tag us @takestwoeggs—we’d like to see and share your scrumptious creation!

Hungry for extra? Observe us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Fb for extra tasty creations and updates 🍜

Mapo Tofu Recipe

Mapo Tofu

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Prepare dinner Time 20 minutes minutes

Complete Time 30 minutes minutes

This straightforward 30 minute mapo tofu recipe options silken tofu and floor pork cooked in an addicting spicy, savory Sichuan sauce.

Servings: 4 servings

Print Recipe

Elements

1x2x3x

• Marinate the pork. In a medium mixing bowl, add floor pork, Shaoxing wine, mild soy sauce, and ginger. Combine till mixed.

• Add the garlic, pork, and doubanjiang. In a wok or massive skillet over medium warmth, warmth 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil till sizzling. Add the garlic and saute till aromatic, about 1 minute. Subsequent, add the pork and doubanjiang and break them into small bits. Combine and mix till the spicy chili bean paste and pork have cooked by way of, about 4-5 minutes.

• Add the remaining components. Add the Sichuan floor peppercorns, low sodium rooster inventory, chili oil, rooster bouillon powder, 5 spice powder, and sugar. Combine till mixed. Deliver the combination to a boil.

• Add cornstarch slurry. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water till mixed. When it reaches a boil, add the cornstarch slurry and gently stir till the sauce thickens.

• Add tofu. Unfold the tofu evenly on prime of the pork and utilizing a big spoon fastidiously scoop the pork and sauce beneath and fold on prime of the tofu till all the pieces is coated. Prepare dinner for two minutes till the tofu is heat.

• Add inexperienced onion and sesame oil. Add the sesame oil and inexperienced onion and gently stir till simply integrated. Take away from the warmth.

• Serve. Garnish with a sprinkle of Sichuan peppercorn extra inexperienced onion. Serve with a bowl of steamed rice. Get pleasure from!

• Toast the Sichuan peppercorns. Earlier than grinding the peppercorns, flippantly toast them on a skillet over medium warmth for 30 seconds to 1 minute to boost their taste, scale back the bitterness, and improve the tingling numbing sensation.
• Deal with the tofu with care. For silken tofu, it tends to collapse actually simply. Whenever you add within the tofu cubes, don’t transfer them an excessive amount of, and use a spoon to pour the recent mapo tofu sauce on prime of the tofu to warmth them up.
• Use good high quality chili oil. Chili oil is a vital ingredient on this mapo tofu recipe. Use high quality store-bought chili oil or make it your self with this selfmade chili oil.
• Style and alter based mostly on preferences. Style your spicy mapo tofu as you cook dinner and alter the spices and seasonings based mostly in your preferences. Totally different manufacturers of doubanjiang and chili oil will differ the flavors and spice ranges.

Energy: 152kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 8g | Fats: 10g | Saturated Fats: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 5g | Ldl cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 286mg | Potassium: 180mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 43IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg