Mapo Tofu
This is every chef’s favorite Chinese food. It is spicy, meaty, fragrant, and it warms your soul like nothing else. The only time I actually like eating tofu is when I eat this dish.
Ingredients
- 400 soft tofu
- 15 g grated ginger
- 30 g garlic, minced or pressed, 6 cloves
- 75 g scallions, light green and white parts only, thinly sliced, reserve greens for garnish
- 10 g Thai chiles, thinly sliced, or reduce for less heat
- 2 g Szechuan peppercorns, ground, or sub black pepper
- 75 g neutral oil, e.g., avocado or peanut
- 125 g 80/20 ground beef, or pork
- 40 g toban djan, fermented bean & chili paste
- 15 g gochugaru chile powder, or sub paprika, added later
- 30 g Shaoxing wine, or mirin, white wine, or water
- 300 g chicken stock
- 10 g soy sauce
- 3 g kosher salt
- 5 g sugar
- 1 g MSG, optional
- 5 g sesame oil
- 5 g cornstarch
- 20 g water
Instructions
- Slice tofu into 6 planks, then cube into ¾–1" pieces. Leave cubes undisturbed on the cutting board to prevent breakage.
- Bring 2–3 quarts water to a boil in a wok or pot. Salt generously. Gently slide tofu into the water using a bench scraper. Simmer 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to dry.
- Prep the aromatics: grate ginger, press garlic, slice scallions (light parts only), and chiles. Grind Sichuan peppercorns in a mortar and pestle or crush with a pan.
- Heat dry wok over high heat. Add oil and ground beef. Break up and brown for ~2 minutes.
- Add toban djan. Stir-fry 30 seconds.
- Add gochugaru and ground Sichuan peppercorns. Stir-fry 1 minute.
- Add scallions, chiles, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry for 90 seconds until softened.
- Deglaze with Shaoxing wine, scraping up browned bits. Reduce for about 30 seconds. Add stock, soy sauce, salt, sugar, MSG, and sesame oil. Bring to a boil.
- Gently fold in tofu. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Stir cornstarch and water together into a slurry. Add to wok and stir gently until sauce thickens to a stirrable, saucy consistency. Add more stock if too thick.
- Serve over rice and garnish with scallion greens
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