Sichuan Mapo Tofu

Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐) is an extremely popular dish that comes from the Sichuan province of China. The silky tofu is cooked with pork in a delicious chili and black bean sauce. It's spicy and absolutely wonderful to enjoy with a bowl of rice. And it comes with the tongue tingling sensation that is a signature of Sichuan cuisine.

The origin of the name 'mapo tofu' is actually pretty hilarious. The Chinese characters translate to 'pockmarked grandmother's beancurd,' and was aptly named so after a lady with an unfortunate skin blemish and her fantastic tofu dish. Whoever this lovely lady was, so many people have her to thank for her cooking. Now, hers was said to make you break a sweat. I made my version a bit milder, but feel free to make adjustments to heat it more to your preference.

Special Ingredients in Mapo Tofu

Sichuan Peppercorn Powder

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Doubanjiang

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Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒粉)

The Sichuan pepper is commonly used in the cuisine of China's Sichuan province. Despite the misleading name, it is not actually a pepper plant. In fact, the peppercorns are actually the dried berries from a Chinese prickly ash tree. It is unique in that it has a tingly, numbing effect on your tongue. They taste slightly bitter and of woodsy pine and lemony citrus. Sichuan peppercorns are not spicy themselves, but the tingling acts as a flavour enhancer. And so, it is used in combination with chili in Sichuan cuisine to create a 'numb-heat' sensation.

In this recipe I use a teaspoon of the peppercorn powder. This amount gives a pleasant, light tingle effect. If you would like to amp that up, you can try adding a bit more. Just be mindful that if adding more you are introducing more bitterness to the dish. If you can't find the powdered version, you could buy whole Sichuan peppercorns and grind them finely yourself. You could also completely omit them from this dish and it will be different but still very tasty.

Doubanjiang (豆瓣醬)

Doubanjiang is another famous ingredient of the Sichuan cuisine. It is a fermented chili and bean paste that adds wonderful savoury and spicy flavours to a dish. Doubanjiang is considered a staple ingredient in traditional mapo tofu. If you simply can't get it, you could substitute doubanjiang with sambal oelek chili paste in this recipe (usually much easier to find) - but you will be missing out on a special flavour element.

How to make mapo tofu

First of all, I would recommend that you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking. This dish comes together quite quickly and this will make it a lot easier.

Add two teaspoons of sesame oil to a wok or a large saucepan over medium heat. Add in the Sichuan peppercorn powder and stir fry it for thirty seconds.

Next add in the minced garlic, grated ginger, and doubanjiang. Stir fry for one minute.

Then add in the ground pork. Break it apart and brown until it is cooked through.

While the pork is cooking, mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with two tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry.

Once the pork is cooked through, stir in the chicken broth, soy sauce, and slurry. Cook for about a minute, until it just thickens a little.

Mix the chili oil into the sauce, then gently fold in the cubes of tofu. Cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally while being careful not to mash the tofu pieces.

Stir in the sugar, scallions, and a teaspoon of sesame oil. Cook for one more minute.

Mapo tofu is best enjoyed with a bowl of rice.

What is your favourite Chinese dish? Let me know what recipes you would like to see featured!

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