Mapo Tofu Recipe: The Real Deal

February 27, 2024 6:01 PM

I was parked in my parents’ bedroom, flipping through the channels of countless historical dramas (you can literally go through ten straight channels, and each time the screen changes, you’ll see actresses in traditional dress, fighting back tears in disturbingly clear HD), Chinese nature documentaries (run little deer, ruuuun!), and mindless extended infomercials for the best Chinese dried dates you’ll ever taste, or your money back guaranteed (…or not). Anyways, I was knocked out of my stupor when my limited Chinese vocabulary was able to detect that the latest cooking program I had settled on was featuring a professional chef explaining how to make Mapo Tofu the right way.

The Woks of Life previously.

posted by cupcakeninja (30 comments total)

The History of Spicy Revolutionaries
Why Revolutionaries Like Spicy Food
Book Review | The history of the chilli pepper in Chinese culture, from poor man’s spice to symbol of the revolution and passionate women
Hot Peppers, Sichuan Cuisine and the Revolutions in Modern China


Also thanks for posting! Once upon a time, I was on the hunt for an authentic Pad Thai recipe. Now that online presence (Chez Pim/Pim Techamuanvivit ) is a Michelin Star Chef! Humble beginnings to authentic recipes.
posted by rubatan at 6:07 PM on February 27 [4 favorites]

This is more or less the recipe reported in Fuschia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty, but with double the meat. It’s bangin.
posted by Captaintripps at 6:16 PM on February 27 [7 favorites]

Just in case, the Pad Thai recipe.
posted by rubatan at 6:17 PM on February 27 [13 favorites]

Personally, I’m partial to the Chinese Cooking Demystified recipe. My biggest change is I use rehydrated wild mushrooms and the stock from that instead of pork or beef. Gives it a great texture and it’s vegan.
posted by misterpatrick at 6:27 PM on February 27 [10 favorites]

I mentioned in the meta about single link recipe posts that I only like reading the ginormous essay that comes with the recipes in Serious Eats and no other but that's not true! I forgot all about the Woks of Life and I often enjoy the words as much as the recipe. Woks of Life is a true gem of a website.

Thanks for the post, cupcakeninja!
posted by ashbury at 7:03 PM on February 27 [5 favorites]

For vegans, replace the meat with rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and you’re good to go.

It mentions it in the article, but you really do have to be careful not to burn your Szechuan peppercorns- they can give the whole dish an acrid bitterness that ruins it. I prefer grinding mine to a powder and adding at the end (and/or fry them briefly in oil at the beginning and then scoop them out).
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 7:34 PM on February 27 [4 favorites]

here's another later video by Chinese Cooking Demystified on mapo tofu too, that even gets into the implicit vernacular "grammar" of Chinese cooking with the "shape rule"

it's a good video with lots of insight! Honestly the channel in general is great
posted by DoctorFedora at 7:58 PM on February 27 [7 favorites]

One other tip that I've picked up is to use a mix of aged (for deep flavor) and younger (for color and heat) chili bean paste. Found the video, mostly about chili bean paste production. The mix of young and aged really is nicer that using either alone.
posted by tuffet at 8:18 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]

Kenji had a whole thing about how mapo was originally made with beef and not pork which I thought was interest. This is the recipe, not the thread with his receipts on why it was beef not pork, but I thought that was an interesting change, that while subtle, does change the dish.
posted by Carillon at 8:33 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]

The Woks of life cookbook is excellent. My copy is thoroughly stained.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 10:07 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]

Living in Jersey City for 6 months ruined me for spicy Chinese food. Chefs in Albany, NY are reluctant to go really hot.

Here's Chef Wang's recipe, focusing on restaurant shortcuts.
posted by mikelieman at 10:25 PM on February 27 [1 favorite]

Really? Can we not do this? This single-link recipe posting thing? I mean, come on, really. Especially when the single link is nothing more than a brilliant essay with details on how to make some extraordinarily fantastic-looking spicy dish along with wonderful pictures of something that seems too yummy to be real. I mean now I'm starving and have an itch for mapo tofu that will be difficult to scratch. Come on.


[I hope you will all be able to tell that I am kidding. This is great, best of the wok.]
posted by chavenet at 2:24 AM on February 28 [6 favorites]

Thank you! I'm in love with this
posted by infini at 2:55 AM on February 28 [2 favorites]

I already linked to my go-to recipe for mapo tofu in the MetaTalk thread. Mandee, the YouTuber who does "Souped Up Recipes" is my favorite of the assorted Chinese cooks I have seen on YT.

Boston-area MeFites who don't already know about Sichuan Gourmet (locations in Brookline, Burlington, Billerica and Framingham) need to get to one and try their mapo tofu. It's my absolute favorite.

Glad we convinced you to post this!
posted by briank at 4:37 AM on February 28 [3 favorites]

The ma po at Mission Chinese in San Francisco is also outstanding, though like a lot of the dishes there, a copy of what you can order at Spices in the Clement Street Chinatown.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:50 AM on February 28 [2 favorites]

One thing I've found is that you shouldn't over use Sichuan pepper corns. Too much don't make dishes too spicy, they make your mouth too numby :)

Not literally numb but the flavour over rules everything else ...and actually that's not a good thing. Stick to the recipe in this respect.
posted by treblekicker at 5:09 AM on February 28 [1 favorite]

I appreciate the recipe's discourse on how Sichuan peppercorns vary significantly depending on their freshness. I also like the meat-heavy recipe. (1:2 pork to tofu). I love Kenji's Serious Eats recipe but he goes 1:6 beef to tofu. It's a tofu dish, sure, but the ground meat makes it so yummy.

For a deeper read on Sichuan cooking Fucsia Dunlop's The Food of Sichuan is excellent. It's an update on the Land of Plenty book mentioned above. I don't actually cook from it but reading it gave me a much clearer understanding of how Sichuan food works.

My favorite Sichuan place in San Francisco right now is Szechuan Cuisine out in the Sunset (I only ever get delivery). But their Mapo Tofu is not my favorite. For me I'm all about the Fish Fillet with Szechuan Sauerkraut in Spicy and Hot Oil 麻辣泡菜魚片.
posted by Nelson at 6:59 AM on February 28 [3 favorites]

I've been down the Mapo tofu rabbit hole a number of times; in addition to the excellent examples posted above, I found this one to be a great watch: Chen Kenichi Mapo Tofu
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 7:16 AM on February 28 [2 favorites]

What a wonderfully synchronistic post! Literally an hour before it appeared my wife and I were eating some ma po tofu from a local restaurant; neither one of us had eaten it before and we really liked it. And now we have some guidance on making our own. Thanks, cupcakeninja!
posted by TedW at 8:54 AM on February 28 [1 favorite]

So I scanned the thread before looking at TFA, and

This is more or less the recipe reported in Fuschia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty, but with double the meat. It’s bangin.

told me what I needed to know about that. If you want to cook Sichuan style, Dunlop is pretty much the normative reference for English-speakers. Personally I am crazy about her "Xie Laoban's dan dan noodles," which unfortunately I can't find a good link directly to that so you'll have to search yourself, and look at the hits. I modify it by using spicy American breakfast sausage in place of the beef. Made with fresh long Chengdu wheat noodles, it is awe-inspiringly satisfying to eat.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 9:41 AM on February 28 [4 favorites]

And then I look at TFA and see

If your peppercorns are extremely fresh or high quality, you should consider reducing the amount of peppercorns within the range we call for in this recipe according to your own tastes!

and it's just a speedbump, really. They're not talking to me and I can let that pass. But to the ensuing discussion about bitterness and Sichuan "peppercorns," I have to add something they don't mention. They are not forcing their ground peppercorn through a sieve before use, which largely separates the red flesh from the white pith. Also to agree, if your Sichuan peppercorns have more than 1-2 seeds/50g of pepper, you have the wrong article. Throw it away, count the cost as a tuition payment on your education, and go find something good.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 9:52 AM on February 28 [2 favorites]

Years ago, my wife and I were out in a suburb we don't frequent, and were right by a Chinese restaurant that a friend of her's recommended to us. She's from France, and we didn't know how seriously we should take this recommendation, but we were hungry and game for an adventure. We go in, Dr. Advicepig orders something, I order mapo tofu from a nice Chinese woman in her sixties.

A short while later, I hear the chef arguing with her in Toisan, my home dialect.

Chef (inToisan): You have to go out there and tell them mapo tofu has pork in it. Everyone thinks it's vegetarian and sends it back!
Server (in Toisan): No, why are you so stupid, the menu says pork. They know.

This goes back and for for two or three minutes, and in a huff, he comes out to our table.

Chef (in English): I wanted to make sure you know that mapo tofu has pork in it.
Me (in English): I know, that's why I like it.
Server cackles.

We eat a very tasty lunch and on my way out...

Me (in Toisan): Everything was delicious, thank you so much

I basically ran out of there before they realized I understood the whole argument.
posted by advicepig at 11:57 AM on February 28 [13 favorites]

mefite cackles
posted by infini at 12:07 PM on February 28 [2 favorites]

Throw it away, count the cost as a tuition payment on your education, and go find something good.

I've had a devil of a time finding good sichuan peppercorns. Even the stuff from Penzey's had no numbing effect. I haven't done an in depth survey of ALL the available brands/sources, but I feel like Charlie Brown and the football every time I toast/grind/sieve something new. Any insight would be appreciated.
posted by mikelieman at 12:48 PM on February 28 [2 favorites]

The ones I’ve gotten from The Spice House have been good. Shelf life is limited though, they are generally pretty sad after a full year in my pantry, and probably would benefit from being refreshed more often than yearly.
posted by notoriety public at 2:59 PM on February 28

My go-to is Mala Market. Expensive, but they have all the hard-to-get stuff including the caiziyou oil that's essential for a really clingy chili oil.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 3:16 PM on February 28 [2 favorites]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look them over when I get a free moment tomorrow.
posted by mikelieman at 4:39 PM on February 28

It is interesting to see the different variations on Mapo Tofu. My favourite was a vegan version, purely based on nostalgia, from a hole in the wall Chinese place that had a phone book size hand written menu that all the different owners of the restaurant over the decades had added to in various ways. Their version was pretty simple - its just sauce (Doubanjiang + Sichuan peppercorns + mystery ingredients) and soft tofu on rice. In my university vegetarian days that was a filling $5 meal. The stir fried egg and tomato was also delicious.
posted by Ashwagandha at 6:38 PM on February 28

I am not afraid of a little heat, but I have been making mapo doufu for decades, and I prefer a little lighter on the papers, a little heavier on the black bean paste, and lots more broth, so it makes a nice gravy to soak into the rice. My recipe is from a "women of china" cookbook published on paper so thin it could serve as emergency TP.
posted by Dougoh at 4:03 PM on March 4 [1 favorite]

My go-to is Mala Market.

Mala Market has a great recipe section, too. It actually began as a recipe blog called the Mala Project and then started selling hard to get ingredients to help with the recipes. I’m so happy that has grown into the de facto internet shop for Sichuan ingredients. (My favorite recipe I’ve made from their site is the water boiled beef, which has a step where you dump 275f oil into a bowl of thin sliced beef and Sichuan peppercorns, and it essentially fries the peppercorns in place)

I’ve made their mapo tofu a number of times. It’s similar to the linked recipe here. Mapo tofu is a dish that once you’ve cooked it a few times you can just sort of eyeball the amounts of things and it will turn out pretty good. My kids don’t like strong flavors, so for them I make a version that has only a tiny amount of the doubarjian, garlic, and ginger… it turns out that ground pork + chicken stock + corn starch to thicken + tofu is still delicious.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:26 PM on March 8 [2 favorites]