How to Make Mapo Tofu

By grace.g.yang ยท October 6, 2010
Under: Asian,Cheap Eats,Chinatown,Chinese,Dinner,Lunch,My Life,Recipes

My mom taught me how to make this dish because it’s a good way to use tofu and it’s much better than anything you’d buy in a Chinese restaurant. It’s also extremely easy to make and is good for a quick weeknight dinner – the amount of hot sauce you add to the dish is up to you, but this is a quick, healthy, and easy dish that you should definitely try sometime.

Mapo Tofu Ingredients

2 boxes of regular tofu, cubed
1 pound of pork
3 large tablespoons of Chinese hot sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce, divided
2 tablespoons of corn starch, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pinch sea salt
3-4 Green Onions
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Peanut oil for cooking

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Combine one tablespoon corn starch, one tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder to the pork and combine:

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Cube the tofu into large chunks:

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Cook the seasoned pork with peanut oil:

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Once the pork is fully cooked, remove it from the pan. The pork should all be brown when you remove it from the heat:

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Add a little more peanut oil to the pan and cook your tofu (don’t stir it too much or it’ll all break apart):

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While the tofu is cooking, mix together the Chinese hot sauce with the remaining tablespoons of soy sauce and corn starch:

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Add the hot sauce to the tofu:

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Next, add the pork back to the dish:

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Stir gently to combine:

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Right before you turn off the heat, add some chopped green onions and sesame oil:

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Ta da – mapo tofu:

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We usually eat the dish with some brown rice because it’s so hot – definitely a good dish to whip up on a very cold night – it warms up your entire body!

Reader Comments

this is one of my fave chinese dishes EVER! i had no idea it was so easy to make. Definitely making mapo tofu this weekend!!!

#1 
Written By Sarah on October 6th, 2010 @ 10:13 am

awesome! I wrote about this a long time ago but didn’t know how to come up with the sauce on my own so I used the packaged stuff. Now I know!! =)

#2 
Written By esther on October 11th, 2010 @ 12:46 pm

Tried this last night. Very easy and quick. Didn’t have Chinese hot sauce on hand so substituted Sriracha, and it turned out yummy. Thanks for the recipe!

#3 
Written By Cuz Mimi on October 13th, 2010 @ 11:37 am

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