{"id":26336,"date":"2024-05-20T00:05:06","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T07:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamafoodblog.com\/?p=26336"},"modified":"2024-05-19T21:55:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T04:55:48","slug":"make-mapo-tofu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamafoodblog.com\/make-mapo-tofu\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapo Tofu"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m addicted to the magical combination of silky soft tofu and saucy spicy pork. If you’re in the know, you know what I’m talking about: mapo tofu.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is mapo tofu?<\/h2>\n

Mapo tofu is a famous Sichuan tofu dish that has plenty of mala<\/em>, the signature numbing spiciness of good Sichuan food. If you haven\u2019t had Sichuan food before, you might be scared of its fire-y red color, but once you get past that heat, you\u2019ll be coming back for more!<\/p>\n

If you love tofu and you love spicy, you\u2019re going to love mapo tofu too. And, if you\u2019re not so big on spicy, the good thing about this dish is that you can adjust the spiciness level by altering how big of a pinch of Sichuan pepper you finish it with.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with it, here\u2019s a quick breakdown: mapo tofu is a super popular Chinese dish from the Sichuan province. It has soft tofu in a spicy bright red sauce with a bit of ground pork. The name of the dish roughly translates to \u201cpockmarked grandma\u2019s tofu,\u201d kind of like old grandma\u2019s tofu. There are lots of mapo tofus out there but this is a traditional, authentic mapo tofu recipe.<\/p>\n

How to make mapo tofu<\/h2>\n

Once you have your ingredients in hand, it\u2019s a pretty simple recipe. You start off by blanching your tofu in salty water. Then, it\u2019s just a question of frying the pork and doubanjiang<\/a>, adding some chicken stock and thickening it up. Frying the doubanjiang and releasing the oils is what makes everything super tasty and fragrant. The sauce gets a bit of thickening up with cornstarch and everything is glossy and golden and clings perfectly to your tofu cubes. It\u2019s a match made in heaven for rice.<\/p>\n

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  1. Blanch the tofu.<\/strong> Gently simmer the tofu over low heat in salted water, then remove the pot from the heat and let it hang out in its salty bath.<\/li>\n
  2. Fry.<\/strong> Brown the pork so it crisps up a bit then add the doubanjiang and fry it so that the heat releases its spicy red oils. Stir in the garlic and ginger.<\/li>\n
  3. Sauce.<\/strong> Add the chicken stock and soy sauce and bring everything up to a bubble. Add the drained tofu cubes and stir in a cornstarch slurry. Simmer until the sauce is thick and gloss then you\u2019re ready!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"making<\/p>\n

    Key Ingredients<\/h2>\n

    There are two key ingredients to this tofu: chili bean paste (doubanjiang) and Sichuan peppercorns. You can find both of them at your local Asian grocery store. The other ingredients are pretty standard fare.<\/p>\n