Easy Mapo Tofu
You're going to love making mapo tofu with its soft and silky tofu in a spicy and numb-y sichuan inspired sauce.
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 238kcal
Ingredients
- 1 box soft tofu cut in cubes
- 4 cups water to boil tofu and strain water
Mapo Tofu Sauce
- ½ tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- ½ tablespoon chili oil
- ½ white onion minced
- 4 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon sake or dry sherry optional
- 1½ cup water
- 1 tablespoons oyster sauce or vegan oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili oil I recommend a scihuan chili oil
- ½ tablespoon mushroom bouillon or chicken bouillon
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- cornstarch slurry 2 teaspoon corn starch + ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon sichuan peppercorn oil optional
Instructions
- Cut the tofu into cubes. Also, dice the garlic and onion.
- Cook the tofu cubes in boiling water for two minutes or until you see small bubbles. Strain the tofu and set it aside. This step helps get rid of any unwanted soybean or refrigerated flavor for a cleaner taste.
- Make the cornstarch slurry by mixing ¼ cup water with 2 teaspoons corn starch and set aside.
- Heat a large pot or wok. Add the oil, then add the diced onions and garlic to the pot. Saute for 1-2 minutes or until the garlic is golden.
- Add the sake to the pot and 1 ½ cup of water.
- Next, add the oyster sauce, more chili oil, bouillon, and soy sauce. Mix together and cook for one minute.
- Gently add tofu to the pot and gently mix everything together.
- Add the corn starch slurry. Make sure to give it a stir before adding to the pot. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Finish off with 1 teaspoon sichuan peppercorn oil if you love that mala numbing taste ◡̈ Hope you enjoy!
Notes
- Boil the tofu: This step is important to remove some of the soybean or odd flavors in the tofu. The flavor is much cleaner. Don't forget to strain it well to remove all the liquid.
- Use a good sichuan chili oil! The flavor of this dish is spicy, earthy, and slightly numby from the sichuan peppercorns.
- Use the right tofu. Silken or soft tofu is great for this dish compared to firm tofu. I prefer the texture of the dish to be silky and smooth.
- Storing: Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat your leftovers in a skillet before enjoying them with another serving of white rice.
- Mapo Tofu With Pork: The classic version of this recipe is made with minced pork. If you want to make it this way cook the ground pork onions and garlic, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks and browns.
Nutrition
Calories: 238kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 0.1mg | Sodium: 959mg | Potassium: 83mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 0.4mg