Mapo tofu
A dish built on two kinds of heat that Sichuan treats as separate sensations: là, the burn of chilli, and má, the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper. The name means "pockmarked grandmother's tofu". Technically two things matter: the tofu is set in salted water so it does not disintegrate in the sauce, and the starch goes in in three additions.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Setting the tofu 8 min
- Frying the paste 8 min
- Simmering 8 min
- Thickening 4 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSet the tofu in hot salted water
Cut the tofu into 2 cm cubes and put them in hot but not boiling salted water for 8 minutes. The heat sets the proteins on the surface and the salt firms them slightly, so the cubes break up far less. Fry the pork meanwhile.
Ingredients: 500 g tofu · 1 tsp salt · 800 ml water
Hot water, not boiling — a boil breaks the cubes.Fry the pork until crisp
Fry the mince in the oil for 5 minutes over high heat, breaking it up, until the crumbs brown and turn slightly crisp. In mapo tofu the meat is a seasoning rather than the main ingredient — it should be fine and clearly browned.
Ingredients: 200 g minced pork · 4 tbsp oil · 2 tbsp doubanjiang · 1 tbsp chilli flakes · 4 cloves garlic · 20 g ginger
Fry the doubanjiang until the oil reddens
Lower the heat, add the doubanjiang and chilli flakes and fry 3 minutes, until the oil turns bright red and separates from the paste. The same signal as in laksa and sambal: only now is the seasoning cooked.
Ingredients: 200 g minced pork · 4 tbsp oil · 2 tbsp doubanjiang · 1 tbsp chilli flakes · 4 cloves garlic · 20 g ginger
Oil red and separated — the paste is ready.Add garlic, ginger and stock
Add the finely chopped garlic and ginger for a minute, then pour in the stock, soy sauce and sugar. Slide in the drained tofu cubes gently and simmer 8 minutes over low heat. Do not stir with a spoon — shake the pan instead, so the tofu stays whole.
Ingredients: 300 ml stock · 1 tbsp soy sauce · 1 tsp sugar · 2 tbsp potato starch · 4 tbsp water
Thicken with starch in three additions
Slake the starch in cold water and add it in three additions, each time first stirring the slurry (the starch settles), then gently pushing the sauce around with the back of a spoon or shaking the pan until it thickens. The sauce should coat the tofu rather than sit around it. Three additions instead of one give control: after each you can see the thickness and stop.
Ingredients: 300 ml stock · 1 tbsp soy sauce · 1 tsp sugar · 2 tbsp potato starch · 4 tbsp water
Three additions — check the thickness after each.Add Sichuan pepper off the heat
Take the pan off the heat, add the sesame oil and scatter over ground Sichuan pepper and chopped spring onion. Add the pepper at the end: cooked for long, it loses its aroma and much of its tingle. Serve with white rice.
Ingredients: 1 tbsp Sichuan pepper · 4 pcs spring onions · 1 tsp sesame oil
Before you start
Doubanjiang cannot be replaced
It is a fermented broad bean and chilli paste, most prized from Pixian county, aged for months and, in the best grades, for years. Without it you can make spicy tofu but not mapo tofu. Gochujang is sweeter and miso has no chilli — neither delivers that fermented depth.
Vegetarian version
Instead of pork: finely chopped mushrooms or shiitake, fried until their water evaporates and they brown. The doubanjiang carries most of the flavour anyway, so the loss is smaller than it seems.
How it is eaten
Mapo tofu is intensely salty and hot, so it is eaten with plenty of white rice to temper the sauce rather than as a dish on its own. Allow a bowl of cooked rice per portion.
