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Easy Homemade Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Soft tender tofu, savory ground pork, infused with fragrant aromatics in a mouth-watering, slightly spicy Sichuan sauce that comes together easily in 30 minutes or less. This version is less spicy than traditional Sichuan-style recipes, making it suitable for all households.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 4 Servings

Equipment

  • 1 Wok

Ingredients
  

  • 1 package Medium-firm tofu 700g
  • 1 Package pickled Chinese mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn
  • 150 g Ground pork
  • 1 Tablespoon Light soy sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Oyster sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Spicy broad bean paste Doubanjiang
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Chinese fermented black beans
  • 1/2 Tablespoon White sugar
  • 3-4 Pieces Dried chili peppers
  • 1 Cup Water 240ml
  • 1 teaspoon Shaoxing cooking wine
  • 1 Tablespoon Chinese chili oil
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Minced ginger
  • 3-4 Cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 Piece Green onions Garnish

Cornstarch slurry

  • 1-1.5 Tablespoons Cornstarch
  • 1-1.5 Tablespoons Water

Blanching tofu

  • 1 teaspoon Table salt For blanching tofu

Instructions
 

  • Soak your fermented black beans in water for about 5-10 minutes.
  • Strain out the water and give it a quick rinse.
  • Now, roughly chop the fermented black beans and then set them aside.
  • Open your package of preserved mustard and mince the preserved mustard into small pieces and set aside.
  • Next, cut your dried chili peppers into pieces.
  • Roast Sichuan pepper corn and chili peppers for a few minutes on a wok or pan on low heat until they become aromatic.
  • Now grind the Sichuan pepper corn down into a fine powder using a spice grinder. If you don’t own one, you can use a mortar and pestle or place the Sichuan pepper corn into a zip-lock bag and beat it with a hard, blunt object like a dough roller.
  • Once done, pour the ground Sichuan peppercorns through a sieve and set it aside along with the dried chili peppers.
  • Next, fill a pot or wok with water, enough to submerge the tofu. Add a little salt to it and then heat it to almost a boil.
  • While the pot or wok is heating up, open your package of tofu. Drain out all of the water and give the tofu a quick rinse with water.
  • Now, cut the tofu into small cubes and set them aside.
  • Once the water is almost boiling, turn off the stove and add in your tofu and blanch the tofu for about 1-2 minutes. This will help firm up our tofu and get rid of the beany tofu smell.
  • Once done, remove the tofu from the wok or pot of water and transfer to a large bowl filled with cold water.
  • Let the tofu cool down and then transfer the tofu again to a straining basket, making sure to not let the tofu pieces stick together.
  • Next, heat up a wok on medium heat and add in your cooking oil once the wok is hot enough (smoke coming out of the wok).
  • Add in ground pork and allow it to brown for a little bit on one side before flipping it over and repeating it on the other side.
  • Now add in your minced garlic and ginger.
  • Stir-fry and mix everything together for about 20-30 seconds.
  • Next, add in the cooking wine and give it a quick mix. 
  • Now add in the Doubanjian, chopped fermented black beans, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and about 3/4 of the ground Sichuan pepper corn from earlier, and the dried chili peppers.
  • Stir-fry and mix everything well together, and then add in your preserved mustard.
  • Stir-fry and mix everything well together for about 20-30 seconds, and then add water. Mix everything well together.
  • Now add in your tofu.
  • Gently mix the tofu together with everything else in the wok, and then add in chili oil and give it a quick mix.
  • Braise the tofu for about 5-6 minutes on medium-low heat. This step helps infuse the flavor into the tofu.
  • Next, prepare a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1-1.5 Tbsp of cornstarch with 1-1.5 Tbsp of water.
  • Add the cornstarch slurry to the sauce in 3 stages rather than all at once while stirring the wok or pan. This helps the cornstarch slurry fully dissolve in the sauce and allows you to control how thick you would like the sauce to be.
  • Finally, sprinkle in the leftover Sichuan peppercorns and mix everything well together.
  • Allow the sauce to thicken up, and then remove it from the heat and garnish with some cut green onions.