mapo tofu;
If you’ve never heard of mapo tofu or mapo doufu, it’s basically tofu tossed in a spicy reddish pork or beef sauce. As a sichuan recipe, it’s definitely heavy on the spice traditionally! Ironically, despite being a Chinese dish, I think I had it first in Japan. Didn’t even know what it was, but it’s got a delicious depth and savoriness that’s really hard to describe. The benefit of making your own version is tempering the spice to your preferred levels! Spice it up or down, but definitely make it! This recipe definitely calls for some special ingredients, especially if you’re not familiar with Asian cooking. It uses sichuan peppercorns, which to be honest, I had trouble finding. So I included a substitution for the recipe–black pepper and coriander seeds. I do believe you lose a little of the numbing spice without the peppercorns, so I would definitely be interested to try it again later without substitute. But it was still pretty tasty with the substitute!
This recipe uses both dried red peppers and fresh Thai chilis–and don’t underestimate the spice of that Thai chili. This was actually the first time I had cooked with them and they looked so small, I thought no way am I supposed to use just one or two. So I grabbed a couple handfuls and now I have Thai chilis galore. I came home and nibbled the end of one and thought, this isn’t so bad. My partner walked in and I asked him if he wanted to try it and so he stuffed the whole pepper in his mouth. Poor man’s mouth was on fire for several minutes as he ran around the house whooping. I had apparently not eaten any of the seeds or ribs, so my experience was tolerable. Apparently they’re about 50-100k on the Scoville scale. That’s on average 15x hotter than a jalapeño for reference. So note to you, even those that like spice: add more peppers with caution!
The dish came together beautifully though, with the perfect spice for me by the end, but I always wish for more sauce! It’s so addictingly tasty. I toasted my own chili oil for the first make through, but used jarred stuff for the second. If you like making your own chili oil, go for it! But honestly, I’m lazy, and leaving out the extra step is kinda nice for a quick weeknight meal. Assuming you have all the ingredients on hand, it’s not too long to get dinner on the table. Though I will say it did take some scouring my asian market to figure out where the ingredients were.
Let’s get into some tips and tricks for this one!
- Pick your choice of tofu! I personally always prefer silken. I like that it melts in your mouth and isn’t overly chewy. However, silken tofu is the hardest to cut and keep in nice cubes. If you’re looking for easier or prefer the texture of medium or firm, then feel free to use that.
- I like to drain my tofu. Typically I will remove the tofu from the package and allow it to rest on paper towels. The more water you drain from your tofu, the easier it is to handle and manage. If you have time and dedication, you can even weigh down your tofu with a book or heavy flat object. Tofu is moisture rich, so don’t put the book directly on the tofu unless you realllly don’t care about your book. I suggest a pan under the tofu to catch the drainage, and a small sheet pan on top, then weighed down. It’s not necessary, usually I forget until I start the recipe and just make do with draining on paper towels before it’s needed in the recipe.
- I know there’s some specialized ingredients in this recipe, so look no further. If you’re looking for prepared chili, you’re looking for something like this: Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chili Oil.
- You really need the Mapo spicy bean sauce. Maybe there are substitutes, but I don’t know them, and don’t think it’s wise to substitute considering it’s literally in the name of the dish!
- If you’re timid about the spice, make sure you taste throughout! I have been building my spice tolerance, and I find this manageable, but the rice definitely helps. You can always minimize the chili oil while cooking and just toss more in to taste later. If you’re having trouble finding thai peppers, or want to tone down the spice a bit, you can substitute serrano peppers. But they are less spicy, so if you want an intense amount of spice you’ll need to use much more than the recipe states for thai chili peppers.
mapo tofu;
Ingredients
- 1-2 fresh Thai chili peppers
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 tsp sichuan peppercorns can replace with 1 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp ground corriander if you can't find sichuan peppercorns
- 6-8 dried red chilis
- 3 Tbsp garlic finely minced
- 3 Tbsp ginger finely minced
- 8 oz ground pork or sausage
- 2 Tbsp spicy bean mapo sauce
- ⅔ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1½ tsp cornstarch
- 12-16 oz tofu desired firmness
- 2 tsp chili oil to taste
- ¼ tsp sesame oil optional
- 1 scallion optional
Instructions
- Drain tofu and slice into cubes. Set onto paper towels to drain and set aside. Grind Sichuan peppercorns if using. Slice thai chili peppers thinly.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the ground Sichuan peppercorns and stir occasionally for 30 seconds. Add the ginger and cook 1 minute. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
- Turn heat on saucepan to high and add the ground pork. Break up the meat and fry until cooked through.
- Add the spicy bean sauce and stir it in well. Add chicken broth to the mixture and stir. Simmer for approximately 1-2 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and ¼ c. water and mix. Add to sauce on the stove and stir to integrate. Let mixture simmer until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add chili oil, sliced thai peppers, and crushed red chilis to the mixture. Add the tofu and toss gently to coat. Cook 3-5 minutes.
- Serve over rice. Garnish with sesame oil and sliced scallion, as desired.
