Mapo tofu is my first meal combining meat with tofu. It took quite a while to get this recipe to a point where I was pleased with it though now I really love it.
This recipe was inspired by this one by Aaron and Clairs Video though over several iterations I did break away quite a bit from theirs.
Ingredients
Meat:
- 250 pork
- 2tbsp chinese chili oil
- 2tbsp corn starch
Others:
- 50g spring onions
- 6g ginger
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp chinese chili paste
- 500g beef stock
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp soj sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 2 tsp sugar
- [optional: chillies]
Slurry:
-
2 tbsp corn starch
-
2 tbsp water
-
350g silk tofu
-
4 pcs of fresh ground szechuan pepper
Instructions
Cut the pork into cubes. Mix the chinese chili oil and corn starch and marinade the meat in it. Note: the chili oil does give nice taste but also a nice colour. If you don’t have it use some paprika powder instead. Mince the ginger and garlic. Cut the spring onions into thin slices. Prepare the sauce in a small jar so you have it at hand later on. Do the same with the slurry (corn starch water mix) in a separate vessel. Bring some water to a boil. Cut the silk tofu in bigger parts and let it simmer for 2 minutes before removing it from the heat.
In a pan or wok heat up some oil. Stir-fry the meat for about a minute or until fully done. Remove the meat from your pan. Add the chili paste, ginger, garlic and spring onion. If needed add some more neutral oil. Let it fry for about 1 minute. Now add the beef stock. Once it is at a simmer, add the meat and the prepared sauce. Again wait until it is up to a simmer. Now add your silk tofu as well as the slurry. Try to spread the slurry around the pan and mix it in very gently. A few moves with a spatula should be enough or you will break the tofu.
Top the dish of with some freshly ground szechuan pepper. I did not have this ingredient for the first few times I cooked mapu tofu and it still tastes great. Though the pepper does add a lot to the flavor and fits perfectly.
Journey
v3
For this one I incorporated my chinese chili oil and paste. It might not be that authentic anymore, though now its at a state that I really enjoy it. I used beef stock as I did not have chicken stock on hand. Turned out pretty nice, though might try chicken stock in the next go.
Ingredients
-
250 minced pork
-
2tbsp chinese chili oil
-
2tbsp corn starch
-
50g spring onions
-
6g ginger
-
4 garlic cloves
-
500g beef stock
-
2 tbsp chinese chili paste
-
1 tbsp soj sauce
-
2 tbsp oyster sauce
-
2 tbsp mirin
-
2 tsp sugar
-
[optional: chillies]
-
2 tbsp corn starch
-
2 tbsp water
-
350g silk tofu
v2
For this version I still was not able to get soft tofu, though I got a better one than last time. I choose to not use minced pork to alter the meats texture. I read somewhere to marinade the meat with a slurry (1tbsp water and 1tbsp corn starch) up front. The consistency of the meat was pretty nice, though this made a pretty big mess in the kitchen during frying the meat. Either do this in a big wok or do reduce (or remove) the water and only use corn starch next time.
I did remove the sake because it was just too sour and reminded me too much of the chinese hot sour soup. This was a good decision. Don’t try this in the next iterations.
This time I did not have red paprika at home. I substituted them with paprika powder. Taste wise this worked fine, though it did not look as nice. Next time, try to use red pepper flakes instead.
Note: using chicken stock (or other stock) will give the best result, though is not really necessary. With the addition of some chili or pepper flakes the difference will be not that noticeable. Rather use your stock for other meals.
v1
Ingredients
-
250 minced pork
-
50g spring onions
-
2 red paprika
-
6g ginger
-
4 garlic cloves
-
500g chicken stock
-
1 tsp hot sauce
-
1 tbsp soj sauce
-
2 tbsp oyster sauce
-
2 tbsp sake
-
2 tsp sugar
-
2 tbsp corn starch
-
2 tbsp water
-
350g soft tofu
The taste of this soup was ok, though reminded me a lot of the chinese hot sour soup. The consistency was not that great with regular tofu. Try to get soft tofu for the next round.
