Mapo Tofu | A Basic Chinese Dish

In the latest episode of our new series “A Basic Chinese Dish,” we teach you how to cook this classic dish. It’s as easy as learning your ABCDs.

Mapo tofu is one of Sichuan’s most well-known dishes. A plate of well-cooked mapo tofu is aromatic, soft, and numbingly spicy. That fiery sensation, which is quite addictive to some, comes from peppercorn, a local spice from the region. The dish was created by a grandmother during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912).

If you’d like to follow along, we have the recipe here:

Recipe

• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (We used canola oil)
• 1 block of tofu
• 1 pot of salted water 
• 100g (0.2 lb) ground pork
• 4 garlic cloves 
• ½ teaspoon of grated ginger 
• 1 stalk of scallion 
• 1 teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns
• 5 pieces of dried red chili 
• 3 tablespoons of fermented bean paste (doubanjiang) (We used the Lee Kum Kee Chili Bean Sauce in our dish)
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of soy sauce 
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch 
• 3 teaspoons of water 

1. Cut tofu into small cubes. 
2. Boil a pot of salt water and blanch the tofu cubes. Remove the tofu when the water is almost boiling. 
3. Heat up oil. Saute garlic, grated ginger, and minced pork. 
4. Add chopped dried chili and peppercorns.
5. Season with fermented bean paste, salt, sugar, and soy sauce. 
6. Toss in tofu, add some water, and let tofu simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Thicken the sauce with a mixture of cornstarch (1 teaspoon) and water (3 teaspoons). You can add more cornstarch if you like the sauce thicker. Or you can add more water if you like the sauce thinner. 
8. Sprinkle chopped scallion and serve.