Tender tofu cooked in an aromatic and spicy sauce, accompanied by minced meat, Mapo tofu is one of the most popular ways to prepare tofu in China.
Once I asked a group of non-Chinese friends who had experiences of real Chinese food: “What is your favourite tofu dish?” They all answered: “Mapo tofu!” It didn’t surprise me at all. Today I’d like to show you how to cook this classic dish the authentic way (without any western adaptation).
Why is it call Mapo tofu?
Tofu (aka Doufu, Bean curd) is one of my favourite ingredients. As a very healthy source of protein, it can be prepared in so many scrumptious ways: in salads, stir-fries, stews, soups, etc. It never fails to please my palate.
Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐) is named after its inventor Mapo (means pockmarked elderly lady) who ran a small restaurant over a century ago in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. It’s a signature dish of Sichuan cuisine, presenting its characteristic flavour: Mala (麻辣), namely numbing and spicy.
Over recent years, Mapo tofu started appearing on the menus of oversea Chinese restaurants. Unfortunately, I’m disappointed most of the time (Many Chinese living aboard have similar complaints). What is often served are just plates of spicy tofu. In terms of the general flavour, the level of hotness, numbness and the texture, such dishes have little to do with what you should expect from authentic Mapo tofu.
Five key features of the dish
In fact, like many Chinese dishes, Mapo tofu is much simpler to prepare than it seems to be. Get the right ingredients and follow the instructions, then you will be on the way to success. For a better understanding of Mapo tofu, five Chinese characters are used to describe the key features of this dish:
麻/numbing
This particular taste/sensation comes from Sichuan pepper, a spice unique to Chinese cuisine. Use freshly ground Sichuan pepper when possible (Please refer to my post to learn how to grind Sichuan pepper properly). Shop-bought powder often tastes too mild.
辣 /spicy
Both of Sichuan chilli bean paste (aka spicy Doubanjiang) and chilli powder contribute to the spiciness. The latter is also used to enhance the reddish colour of the dish.
Different brands of Sichuan chilli bean paste may vary in saltiness, hotness and texture. Adjust the volume accordingly. I normally use Pixian Douban (郫县豆瓣), a well-known variety, which needs to be coarsely chopped prior to cooking.
香/aromatic
Apart from Sichuan chilli bean paste which makes the dish flavoursome, fermented black beans (aka black beans) also provides a particular aroma. Remember to rinse and chop them prior to cooking.
烫 /physically hot
Mapo tofu needs to be served hot for the best taste. However, since tofu holds heat very well, for the first few mouthfuls, I recommend that you break the tofu cubes apart with chopsticks before putting into your mouth.
嫩/tender
It’s better to use Chinese soft tofu (嫩豆腐) for tender texture. The tofu I bought from Chinese shops in England is marked as “medium-firm”. I found it great for this dish (Japanese-style silken tofu is not recommended). Make sure you blanch the tofu cubes in salty water first. This is to make the cubes less breakable. And you need to be gentle when handling them throughout the cooking process.
You can make it vegetarian too
In the authentic version of Mapo tofu, beef or pork mince are used to enhance the flavour. If you wish, skip it or replace it with vegetarian ingredients, such as shiitake mushrooms. Soak the mushrooms in water overnight then chop them into small pieces. Fry as usual.
Choose your own “Mala” level
In terms of the Mala(麻辣) sensation (the level of hotness and numbness), my Mapo tofu recipe is not adapted for non-Sichuanese tastes. You might find it too tangy if you are not accustomed to it. Please feel free to alter the amount of relevant ingredients. You may also add a little sugar to reduce the spiciness as well as the saltiness.
Mapo tofu, the authentic way (麻婆豆腐)
Ingredients
For the tofu
- 600 g soft tofu, 21oz
- ½ tsp salt
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 100 g minced beef or pork, 3.5oz
- 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 2 tbsp Sichuan chilli bean paste, see note 1
- 1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
- 1 tbsp chilli powder, or to taste
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 500 ml unsalted stock or water, 2 cups
- 2 tbsp corn starch, mixed with 3 tablespoons water
For the garnish
- 1 stalk scallions, chopped
- ½ tsp ground Sichuan pepper
Instructions
- Cut the tofu into 2.5cm / 1inch cubes. Gently slide the cubes into a pot filled with cold water. Add salt. Bring the water to a boil then simmer for a further 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Heat up the oil in a wok. Add ginger then leave to sizzle for 10 seconds. Add minced meat and rice wine. Stir fry until the meat becomes pale.
- Stir in Sichuan chilli bean paste, fermented black beans, chilli powder and garlic. Fry until fragrant.
- Pour in stock/water then bring to a boil. Gently slide in drained tofu. Leave to boil (uncovered) until the volume of the liquid reduces by one third.
- Pour half of the starch & water mixture into the wok (stir well beforehand). Leave to boil for 10 seconds or so. Add the other half. Remove the wok from the heat when the sauce is thickened.
- Sprinkle with spring onion and ground Sichuan pepper. Serve it hot with plain rice.
NOTES
Hope you find this recipe helpful. If you like Sichuan cuisine as much as I do, my blog is the right resource to follow. Tag me @red.house.spice on Instagram if you share a photo of your Mapo tofu. I’d love to see!
Have a yummy day!
Beautiful photography!
Thank you! We eat with our eyes, don’t we? Have a great day!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recpie, had Mapo Tofu, back in the time, when i was visiting Heifei and loved it so hard, it instantly became my n.1. dish, so i was crawing it.
Made mine for the first time, i am not the best cook, but… finally was able to satisfy my craving.
Thank you,
with regards
Ian
Congratulations Ian! I understand your craving. Who would not love Mapo Tofu!? Enjoy!
Hi Wei!
I have a question regarding the Sichuan Chilli Bean Paste required to cook this dish. I live in a rural area of Australia and have no way of getting to a good Asian grocery store to buy this ingredient (except for shopping online which is a last resort because shipping to Australia takes absolutely forever). I was wondering what could be substituted as an approximate replacement, and yes, I am aware this paste is very distinct and unique so nothing will completely replace it. I have heard that some people use Miso paste of even Korean Gochujang, what is your opinion on this? Luckily I have all the other ingredients from last time I went to the city to stock up on Asian ingredients haha.
Thankyou,
Rosie
Hi Rosie! Yes, Sichuan chilli bean paste is an essential ingredient for Mapo tofu. If you have to replace it, I would recommend you use other types of bean paste (Doubanjiang) that is made in China. They might not be spicy but you can increase the chilli powder (or flakes) accordingly. Miso and Gochujang are very tasty too. You can surely use them to cook tofu dishes. But I wouldn’t call them Mapo tofu. Happy cooking!
So glad I have discoved you – now I know what ingredients to look for in China section of our local Asian Store in upstate New York. Thank you for posting your delicious cooking tradition on Yummly and making it available for all of us!
Thank you Elena! It’s my pleasure to share my passion with you. Happy cooking!
I don’t see any mention of adding the peppercorns into the pan… you only say to add them at the end. Is that correct?
Yes Peter. For this dish, you add ground Sichuan pepper (not whole peppercorns) at the very end.
This was an excellent recipe and very well explained. I loved learning about the spices and the information about it. Because it was well written, I was able easily get all the ingredients from the Asian market. This was delish. My only suggestion would be, omit the 4 spoons of Chili powder as this was a super duper spicy dish with all the other ingredients. (4 servings) i usually can take very spicy but couldn’t Handle with this much- i guess the chili paste, chili powder, and mala together were a lot to handle; To help, I added a lot more water and hoisin sauce to calm down the spice. But other than that, it was super flavorful & one of the best recipes out there! Thank you so much for sharing. I will definitely make this again.
You are welcome Hennah! Happy to know you find my recipe informative. Thank you for sharing your twist with other readers.
Hi, thanks for your recipe. Regarding Sichuan Chilli Bean Paste, would a mix of Miso+Chinese 5 Spice powder + sriracha(or chilli) taste similar?
Hi Joao! Your mix sounds interesting! I don’t think it would taste very similar to Sichuan chilli bean paste but the dish would taste nice with your mix too.
What type of oil and what type of chili powder do you use?
I usually travel to China 3 times a year but have BT this year due to COVID and I am missing the food very much, so I have decided to try and make some myself!
Peanut oil or cold pressed rapeseed oil are good. But other types of cooking oil work fine too, such as sunflower oil, corn oil, vegetable oil (Do not use olive oil). In terms of chilli powder, choose the one that doesn’t contain any other spices, just pure ground chilli pepper.
Avid cook here, and have made ma po at least 50 times. Ma po is one of those dishes where the ratios of some ingredients are important. I made this last night, and — I am tossing all my other ma po recipes. Wei’s version is the best.
In particular, the Shaoxing rice wine, doubanjiang, fermented black beans, and chili powder amounts are perfect. You can add a little more or less of the other stuff, or add some toasted sesame oil, and the result is what you’d expect. Just don’t mess with the ratios of those 4 ingredients.
Thank you Allen for your kind review and helpful tips. Have a great time in your kitchen!
Thanks for your review! I chose this recipe based on your comments and made it last night to great success.
Absolutely delicious! Many thanks for this recipe and your very helpful website. I’m looking forward to cooking many more delicious meals from your recipes.
My pleasure Natasha! Enjoy your cooking journey!
I’ve never tried Mapo Tofu before cooking it myself, it’s not something you often find in the UK. I have now made this version 3 times and I absolutely love it. Very strong flavour which I like, I adjust the spice level to hot if it’s for the evening or more of a medium if it’s for lunch.
This recipe is absolutely delicious, in fact, I might cook some up now.
Very happy to hear your positive experience. Have a great time in your kitchen!
What kind of chili powder do you use? Also, I have Hunan chili paste.. is that wuite different from Sichuan chili bean paste? It has fermented bean in it.
Hi Helen! I use chili powder purely made of dried chilies (without any additional spices). You can choose any type that suits your tolerance to heat. Hunan chili paste is quite different from Sichuan chili bean paste. The former has fermented black beans, whereas the latter is made of fermented broad beans. This dish would tastes wonderful with Hunan chili paste too. But it wouldn’t be considered the authentic version of Mapo tofu. Hope this helps!