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White plate with white rice and mapo tofu

Mapo Tofu from The Woks of Life

The first time I made mapo tofu at home I sat back and said “I think that’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” It would have to compete for that title with this sandwich, for sure, but it was the best thing I had eaten in a long time. It was easily the most flavor packed meal that had come out of my kitchen. Ever. The kind of thing that makes you think (for one second) it was as good as at a restaurant. Considering it has tofu in the title I was blown away by that.

Mapo tofu isn’t something I order when we get Chinese. I’m a simple Cashew Chicken person. Kung Pao Chicken if I’ve got the fever for some spice. But never mapo tofu so it is a mystery to me how I originally ended up at this recipe. It’s very possible I was browsing on The Woks of Life and it looked good. Everything they make looks good. Bookmark it. I spend a lot of time on that website and find it very inspiring so I maybe just jumped in.

I will not at all try to convince anyone that I’m making this recipe “correctly”. Meaning that I did start off with every intention to recreate it faithfully but as soon as I was introduced to Sichuan peppercorns and spicy bean sauce things kind of went off the rails. I can only say that the ever generous Kaitlin Leung says that you can adjust to taste.

Sichuan peppercorns are the most incredible little things. They aren’t like black pepper, at all. They have the ability to numb your tongue. That doesn’t sound like something you want but it actually is. This is the spiciest thing we make here and that numbing sensation added to the spice is what knocked me back in my chair the first time. It is such a unique thing.

I also don’t generally advocate having one use ingredients in the kitchen but I make a very happy exception for spicy bean sauce. Possibly because, over time, it has become a more-than-one-use ingredient so I try to keep it on hand even though I have to order it specially. If you’re intrigued and want to give all this a shot, you can order it at Souschef.com or on Amazon.

I really don’t think I’ve done a great job expressing how exciting this recipe was for me. Still is. I love it so much. Sometimes I even make it when I don’t have any tofu in the house. Sometimes I just make some rice and put the spicy bean sauce on it. Now maybe it feels like I’m overselling it? It doesn’t matter. You’re only going to understand when you give it a try. 🙂

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20 minutes including the rice being done
White plate with white rice and mapo tofu

Ingredients

1/2 cup high smoke point oil (we use vegetable)
1-2 fresh Thai chilies
6-8 dried red chilies, roughly chopped
1/2-1 1/2 Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
3 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
3 Tbsp garlic, minced
250g pork mince
2 Tbsp spicy bean sauce
150ml water
280g extra firm tofu
Splash of sesame oil
Most of a bunch of green onions, chopped

Instructions

1
Like a lot of Chinese cooking, it comes together really quickly so put the rice on first.
2
We definitely want to mise this one. Chop and prep all of your ingredients before you get going. That means the fresh and dried chilies, fresh ginger, garlic, the green onions. Drain the tofu and cut it up into cubes. Grind your peppercorns. Make the chicken stock. Ok. Good job.
3
If you don’t have an actual wok you want to use the largest skillet or saute pan you have so you can keep things moving around in it. Put the pan on medium heat and add half the OIL. Let it warm up and then add the THAI CHILIES and the DRIED CHILIES. Keep them on the heat until you can smell that they’ve infused the oil. Take them out before they burn. Set them aside.
4
Add the rest of the OIL to the pan. Start with the GINGER and let it fry for a minute. Add the GARLIC. Let it fry for a minute. Put in the PORK MINCE and mix the meat with the ginger and garlic. Now turn the heat up and cook it thoroughly.
5
The next two steps are where you’re going to add the real flavor so it is advisable to potentially start small, taste and adjust. You can always add more so I’d start with a teaspoon of the ground SICHUAN PEPPERCORN and stir that in.
6
Put in 1 Tbsp of the SPICY BEAN SAUCE and stir it in. Now stop and taste. If you want more of either or both of those flavors, go bananas. This is the part where I’ve gone off the rails and add a lot of both but, start slow. Once it tastes how you like it, pour in the chicken stock.
7
OPTIONAL: At this point you can add some cornstarch and water to the sauce to thicken it. I don’t love that texture but it will feel more restaurant like if you do, I think.
8
Get your chili oil and pour that back in (with the chilies.) Give it all one more good stir. Add the TOFU and carefully incorporate it into the mix. It will have a tendency to fall apart so just be gentle. Let it all heat back up and serve with the rice.
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