The Japanese version of this famous Sichuan spicy dish (Mapo Tofu/Mapo Doufu) is made with readily available ingredients and it is a lot less oily but is still an incredible flavour explosion in a bowl – I want the sauce on tap! This dish is on the table in 15 minutes, only 340 calories per serving and you can adjust the spiciness to your own taste. Serve it with rice – and because it is so saucy, I often add vegetables to it to make it a complete meal, such as chopped Chinese greens (Chinese broccoli, bok choy, pak choy) or even grated carrots!
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Mapo Tofu
Prep: 7 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 12 minutes
Stir Fry
Asian, Chinese, Japanese
Servings2 -3
Tap or hover to scale
The Japanese version of the classic Sichuan dish is not as oily or spicy, but still packs a punch when it comes to flavour (and spice if you so choose!) and is made from more readily available ingredients. Because this dish is so saucy, you can make it a complete "one pot" meal by adding more vegetables - any Chinese greens (like bok choy, pak choy) will go wonderfully with this. Even grated vegetables like carrots! As with all stir fried dishes, this is best made with all ingredients prepared and ready to toss into the wok as this comes together quickly once you start cooking.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 tsp ginger , finely chopped or minced
- 1/4 cup scallions/shallots , minced
- 5 oz / 150 g ground/minced pork (or beef or chicken)
- 2 tsp chili bean sauce , adjust to taste (see notes)
- 12 oz / 300 g Firm Tofu (see notes)
Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 2 tbsp Sake or Chinese Wine
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine cornflour with a splash of water, mix to combine, then add remaining Sauce ingredients and mix well.
- Cut the tofu into 1/2 "/ 1 cm cubes.
- Heat oil in wok over high heat.
- Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for 10 seconds.
- Add scallions/shallots and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add mince and stir fry until the outside is brown, breaking up clumps.
- Add Chili Bean Sauce and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add tofu and sauce, and gently stir to cook the sauce until it becomes thick and saucy (about 1 to 2 minutes).
- Serve with rice.
Recipe Notes:
1. Tofu - silken tofu will not work for this dish as it will literally fall apart as you stir it while cooking. Extra firm or fried tofu is also not suitable - these are simply too hard.
2. This dish is traditionally made with pork but can also be made with beef or chicken (ground/minced).
3. Chili Bean Sauce is available in most large supermarkets. If not available, substitute for any other Asian chili sauce - e.g. sriracha, samba oelak.
4.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 228gCalories: 344cal (17%)Carbohydrates: 13.4g (4%)Protein: 18.6g (37%)Fat: 22.3g (34%)Saturated Fat: 4.9g (31%)Cholesterol: 32mg (11%)Sodium: 646mg (28%)Potassium: 233mg (7%)Fiber: 1.8g (8%)Sugar: 4.7g (5%)Vitamin A: 100IU (2%)Vitamin C: 3.3mg (4%)Calcium: 240mg (24%)Iron: 2.7mg (15%)
Delicious. I substituted gochuchang for chili bean sauce and worked well. This recipe is a keeper.
Absolutely delicious and easy. I used my own chilli sauce instead of the bean sauce. The taste of this dish exactly the same as in the restaurant. Well done, Nagi. Thank you.
Absolutely delicious and easy. Well done, Nagi. Thank you.
This is on high rotation at my place. I use chicken mince and I
always add pak choy. Any kind of tofu works fine, but semi firm has a slight edge. Thanks again Nagi!
A wonderful meal. I had to use silken tofu because it was all I had and it worked by not stirring it. I ladled the sauce over the tofu and it was fine.
Delicious! For 3 adults and one adventurous toddler, I double the sauce, use 450g tofu and 500g mince (ie one packet of each). This is a staple in our house now. There’s a version in Tonight which has more ingredients I usually don’t stock, so will stick with this.
Ps I accidentally doubled the vegetable stock quantity and it only improved the dish!
I finally tried this at home.
I sorta bungled the chilli, and it lacked a bit of salt (I added extra nama soy sauce), but in the end it tasted like I remembered from Japan, and I am quite happy with the outcome. If I ever have a lot of left over rice, this is an easy way to a tasty dish, and I’ll definitely be doing this again!
I had Tofu and some Lamb mince to use up! This was so quick, easy and very tasty, I added some pak choy & yellow squash…needed using up…delish 😋😋!
I made this last night. Never sure if I’m doing it right. Tasted fine. One question, can I sprinkle cornflour over pork before cooking? Just to tenderise it a bit. I found the pork mince chewy.
So Delish. I doubled recipe and added green beans, carrot, mushroom and pak choy at the end. Enough for family with leftovers
I was looking for something easy to cook, as a new family time is short. Happened to have pork mince and tofu, added chopped green beans and grated carrot and doubled the recipe. Very satisfying. I doubled the sauce and used the full 2 cups of water.
This meal is my favourite. Easy to cook on a week day after working.
BTW, what happened? This page doesn’t have Dozer? 🙁
So easy to make and tasted great!!
I stuck to your recipe and it was easy to make and delicious! Thanks Nagi!
I doubled this recipe, and it was delicious. I didn’t have shallots, so I used normal onions, and i didn’t have Hoisin sauce, so instead I used Worcestershire sauce and added some Chinese Five Spice. This recipe was great! 😀 Thank You! 😀
I love this soup – super fast and simple.
This was delish! Even my picky toddler got stuck into this one 😯
I can confirm that doenjang (a Korean miso-ish soybean paste) was a great substitute for the chilli bean sauce, though I was probably a little heavy handed. It’s very salty, but did the trick beautifully.
Always wanted to make this dish but it always seem so complicated with so many ingredients. I did Nagi’s version and it was easy as, and got lots of praises from around the table! Thanks!!! Substituted chilli bean sauce with sambal oelak.
I love this recipe as it hits all the tastebuds and makes a little meat go a long way, while the tofu adds to the texture and the protein. I’ve tried pork mince and beef and can’t make up my mind which I prefer, although I bet an all tofu version would still be excellent.
I’m a beginner cook and this turned out so good!! Thank you Nagi!
Just tried this last night – very good! We really enjoyed it. One question. The sauce ingredients call for 1 cup of water, but instructions say splash of water? Is the splash of water just to mix with cornstarch, then you add an additional 1 cup of water? That is what I did as sauce seemed to thick with only a splash. Just want to make sure I understand correctly. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes!
Hi Elizabeth – you use a splash of water from the cup to dissolve the cornstarch then you add the rest of the cup to the sauce when it says “add the rest of the sauce ingredients”! N x