Cookbook:Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu
Category	Chinese recipes
Servings	2
Time	30 minutes

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Mápó dòufu (麻婆豆腐), also romanized as mapo tofu, is a classic spicy tofu and meat dish from the Szechuan province of China. It is a very flavourful, easy-to-prepare, and spicy dish.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 small piece of ginger, minced (about 2 tsp)
• 1–2 tsp crushed dried chile pepper
• 200 g (7 oz) minced beef, or pork
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 500 g (1 lb) silken tofu, cubed
• 2 tbsp chili bean paste (Doubanjiang)
• 1 tbsp Szechuan pepper, roasted and ground
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 3–4 green onions, cut into 2 cm (1 inch) pieces
• 2–3 mushrooms (tree ears preferred; optional)

Procedure

1. If using dried mushrooms, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients, then slice before adding later.
2. Sauté onion with ginger and crushed chili.
3. Add minced meat and garlic, and fry until brown.
4. Mix in other ingredients (including sliced mushrooms), lower heat, and simmer for 5–10 minutes.
5. Serve over steamed jasmine rice.

Notes, tips and variations

• Some extra chili pepper can be substituted for Szechuan pepper, but the taste and feeling will be different. Szechuan pepper has a numbing sensation, not heat.
• A little ground coriander and cumin is very nice in this dish, especially if you cannot find Szechuan pepper easily.
• A red bell pepper, a tomato, and fresh coriander leaves are all welcome additions, though not traditional.
• The meal is just as good with whole beans instead of tofu.
• A vegan/vegetarian version of this meal can be made by substituting the meat with textured vegetable protein (TVP) or ground tofu (e.g. Shiok Food's Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu)