This Mapo Tofu Recipe is my go to people pleaser. It’s full of super flavourful ingredients and can be ready in 30 minutes. In my opinion, it’s the perfect mid-week meal to spice any weekly rotation. Literally!
Why I love this Mapo Tofu
Everyones Mapo Tofu is different and I love mine really saucy with loads of garlic and ginger. The whole thing comes together really quickly in the pan so the key is in the prep. So get your rice on, organise the sauces, chop the aromatics and get ready to throw everything in. Super tasty dinner in 30 mins, perfectionnn.
Pin this Recipe on Pinterest:
Frequently Asked Questions:
This is personal preference! I like a medium firm tofu but you can also use softer or firmer. Stir gently if you’re using a soft tofu so that it doesn’t break apart. If you’re using silken don’t boil the tofu in water first.
Yes! You can use any kind of meat. Fattier meat gives the dish more flavour but if you’re wanting a lighter dish then use a lower fat mince.
Yes you can! Swap out the meat for dried shiitake mushrooms. Re-hydrate the dried shiitake mushrooms, chop them up and fry them with the garlic and ginger.
It can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and re-heated in the microwave or pan.
Recipe Card
Mapo Tofu Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Deep Frying Pan or Wok
- 1 Chopping Board
- 1 Sharp Knife
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 500 g medium firm tofu
- 200 g pork mince
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil (any flavourless oil will do)
Sauce
- 1.5 tbsp chilli bean paste ("doubanjyang")
- 2 tbsp fermented black beans ("douchi")
- 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
- 2 tbsp chopped garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped ginger
- 3 spring onion
- 150 ml chicken stock
Thickener
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 2-3 tbsp water
Garnish
- 0.5 tsp ground Sichuan pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a simmer and add a good pinch of salt. This step is for the tofu so add enough water so that the tofu will be submerged.
- Cube the tofu into bite size pieces and put into the pot of water.
- Finely chop the garlic and ginger.
- Chop the spring onions into roughly 2cm long pieces.
- Roughly chop 2 tbsp of fermented black beans.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the minced pork. Fry the minced pork until a golden brown.
- Push the pork to the side of the pan, turn down the heat so that the paste doesn't burn and add chilli bean paste into the oil. Fry until fragrant and oil has turned red.
- Add the fermented black beans into the oil and fry until fragrant.
- Add the garlic, ginger and optional chilli flakes. Fry until fragrant.
- Add the spring onions and mix everything together in the pan and fry for roughly 1 min, continuously stirring.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the tofu into the pan with the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the chicken stock and gently nudge the cubes of tofu to submerge them into the sauce.
- Let it gently bubble for 5-10 mins so that the tofu can soak up the sauce.
- Combine 1 heaped tbsp of potato starch and the 2-3 tbsp of water and drizzle into the pan. Fry for another minute, this will thicken up the sauce.
- Add in the optional ground Sichuan peppercorns.
- Salt to your tastes and serve.
What to Serve with Mapo Tofu
This dish is delicious but it does need balancing out, I love mine with some super quick air-fryer broccoli and a bowl of multi-grain rice from the rice cooker. Maybe even a side of Simmered Kabocha?
Inspiration
I have a wonderful family member from the province of Sichuan who introduced an amazing book, The Food of Sichuan by Fuchsia Dunlop. I would highly recommend checking out this book if you are interested in Sichuan-style cooking. It’s filled with loads of flavourful recipes which can be whipped up quickly once you have some key seasonings in your pantry.
Hi there it’s me, I am also visiting this web page on a regular basis, this
web page is genuinely fastidious and the visitors are
truly sharing pleasant thoughts.
Hi Vaudou. Thank you for your comment – I’m really great to hear that you’re enjoying this blog!