Mapo Tofu. Mapo Tofu can be found in almost any Chinese restaurant around the world with hundreds of variations adapting the piquant original to suit local tastes. Mapo tofu is one of the top ten famous Chinese dishes and enjoys a high popularity among not only Chinese people but also many western countries. Personally I like to cook this dish at home from time to time especially in cool seasons such as winter and fall.
Stir in the cornstarch slurry, then stir in enough to the mapo tofu to thicken to a soupy rather than a gravy-like finish.
Sprinkle in the ground peppercorns, give the mixture one last stir to incorporate, then transfer to a shallow bowl.
Serve immediately with lots of hot rice.
You can cook Mapo Tofu using 16 ingredients and 5 steps. Here is how you cook it.
Ingredients of Mapo Tofu
- You need 2 of gloves garlic minced.
- You need 1 inch of ginger minced.
- Prepare 2 of scallions sliced.
- You need 14 oz of soft tofu cubed.
- Prepare 1 tablespoon of canola oil.
- It's 1/2 pound of ground pork.
- It's of Ingredients for sauce.
- It's 1 tablespoon of tobanjan.
- You need 1.5 tablespoons of gochujang.
- Prepare 2 tablespoons of mirin.
- You need 1 tablespoon of miso.
- You need 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce.
- Prepare 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce.
- It's 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.
- You need 1 teaspoon of corn starch.
- It's 4 tablespoons of water.
There is nothing wrong with this recipe, but be forewarned: It is NOT a recipe for Ma Po Tofu. First of all, Ma Po Tofu's main flavor is the Sichuan peppercorn. Mapo tofu (Chinese: 麻婆豆腐; pinyin: mápó dòufu) is a popular Chinese dish from Sichuan province. It consists of tofu set in a spicy sauce, typically a thin, oily, and bright red suspension, based on douban (fermented broad bean and chili paste) and douchi (fermented black beans), along with minced meat, traditionally beef.
Mapo Tofu instructions
- Combine all ingredients for sauce.
- Heat oil on medium high heat and add garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant.
- Add ground pork and cook until no pink meat remains. Add sauce and stir thoroughly.
- When sauce is boiling, add tofu and stir to coat. Add green onion and remove from pan.
- Best served over short grain Japanese rice.
Variations exist with other ingredients such as water. Mapo Tofu is a popular Chinese dish from Sichuan Province, where spicy food is king and the signature spice of the region--the Sichuan Peppercorn--gives dishes a unique "numbing" effect. It's almost like the Sichuan peppercorns are there to not only add their fragrance and flavor, but also to numb your tongue so it can take more heat! JOC's all-time favorite dish, and it frequently makes it into my dinner menu rotation. We often eat Mapo Tofu as a donburi-style, one-bowl meal for easy cleanup!