MaPo Tofu [麻婆豆腐]

This is one of my most favourite dishes. Not just most favourite Chinese dishes, no, most favourite dishes ever. The spicy chili bean sauce, the numbing sichuanpeppers, the tasty garlic, ginger and onion and the soft tofu. It’s just perfect. And when using the right kind of tofu (not the old, firm supermarket tofu) I can’t imagine anybody not liking it.

RECIPE

750g soft, fresh tofu
250g mince meat (beef, pork or a combination)
2 T chinese dark soy sauce
1,5 T shaoxing rice wine
½ t sesame oil
1 T oil for stir frying
2 spring onion, chopped (shallot is fine too)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 t finely chopped or grated ginger
1-2 T chili bean paste (or more!)
2,5 dl chicken-stock
1,5 t cornflour
1 spring onion for sprinkling
2 t sichuanpeppercorns

Preparations

• Mix the ground beef with
  2 t dark soy sauce
  2 t shaoxing rice wine
  ½ t sesame oil
  Put in refrigerator to marinate while you prepare the rest.
• Dry roast the sichuanpeppercorns until fragrant. Let them cool down, then grind as coarse or fine as you prefer.
• Drain the tofu, cut into 1×1 cm cubes. You can blanch those in boiling water for about 1 minute and then drain them to improve the taste but you can easily skip this if you think it’s too much trouble.
• Cut and set aside (together)
  2 spring onions (or 1 shallot) chopped
  2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  2 t finely chopped or grated ginger
• Slice the spring onion for decoration (julienne).
• Make a mixture of
  2.5 dl (instant) chicken-stock
  1.5 T dark soy sauce
  1 T shaoxing rice wine

Cooking

Stir-fry the mince meat until brown and loose/grainy.
Transfer to a sieve, hanging in a bowl and set aside.

In the same wok/pan let the juice evaporate or wipe it clean, then stir-fry the (spring)onion, garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds, add the 1 or 2 T chilibeanpaste, stir-fry for just 5 seconds, then add the chicken-stock mixture. Bring to the boil, add the tofu-cubes and add back the mince beef. Bring back to the boil, let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Be careful not to break the tofu while stirring occasionally.

Before serving, add a mixture of cornflour with cold water to thicken the sauce. When ready, sprinkle with spring onion and sichuanpepper. (without the sichuanpepper the dish will not come alive, really, you cannot omit it!)

Serve with white rice and simply boiled or stirfried (long) green beans which go great with the sauce of the mapo tofu.
Enjoy!

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Tags: 麻婆豆腐, mapo, MaPo Doufu, MaPo Tofu, recipe, Tofu