My family found it to be very spicy, I will probably cut back on the chile powder next time, but everyone loved it. I made this as listed except I had to substitute black peppercorns for the Sichuan variety because the two local Asian Markets did not carry them. Followed exactly although I used spicy thai chili powder, that I had on hand, which made it very hot! I had never really made a tofu based recipe before. I've even gotten my brother, a renowned tofu-hater, to eat this dish. Make sure you use the tobanjiang (hot bean sauce) and sichuan peppercorn (order from amazon if you don't have a chinese food store near you). cup homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock or water. Made this dish, without the oil, and it was fantastic!!! Super spicy, the tofu (I used silken) was slurpy and satisfying. Mapo Tofu 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce 2 teaspoons light soy sauce. But I love, love, love Asian cuisine and the photo here is SO pretty. I had never tasted this dish before, so never made it either. Anything labeled “toban jiang” or “doubanjiang” will work, but it’s worth seeking out jars labeled Pixian or Chengdu for this icon of Sichuan cuisine.Įditor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the July 2008 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared on Epicurious in August 2008. Also, mapo dofu should be made with silken, not firm tofu. We tested this mapo tofu recipe with several brands of fermented bean and chili paste, each varying in flavor and texture. There is no sugar necessary in this dish if you use Chinese rice wine.

Thickened with cornstarch and garnished with green onions and ground Sichuan pepper, mapo tofu is best served over steamed white rice, with a refreshing, cooling beverage alongside. Together, these ingredients bring a complex burn to the stew-like mapo tofu, which combines ground pork, douchi (fermented black beans), soy sauce, chicken stock, and cubes of creamy soft tofu for a quick-cooking wok meal. The complex flavor of this Chinese dish comes from three key ingredients: Sichuan chili flakes, umami-rich doubanjiang (a fermented chile–broad bean paste), and citrusy, tingling, mildly mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns (the berry of a prickly ash tree). Mapo tofu is a specialty of China’s Sichuan province, and a paragon of the region’s famed ma la, or numbing and spicy, flavor.

Ma po tofu