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%)
Made a big portion of this recipe for dinner tonight and it did not disappoint! And I used kangaroo mince as my meat substitute, which was great! Got leftovers for the next few meals. I used 30% less water as I wanted a thicker sauce and I think it turned out fantastic. Thanks Nagi for another amazing recipe!
Now THAT’S a fusion dish!! Aussie x Asian!! N x
Hi Nagi. I love your recipes and use them all the time. Just wondering if diced eggplant is sometimes added to Ma Po Tofu or am I confused with another recipe??? Thanks.
This was so delicious! Have always wanted to try making this myself at home and was stoked to find you had a receipt on your website. Thank you Nagi!
So delicious. Will have to make for my mum who is a huge fan of “grandma’s bean curd”
Hello, I wanna make this, but I was wondering, in Aaron and Claire’s Mapo Tofu version, he blanches the tofu, do you see any benefit to this? I’m just curious 🙂
I had this with egg noodles sprinkle with fried garlic and shredded carrots & bean sprouts! Saucy & sooo good
Delicious recipe and quick too. I doubled the recipe as I had a big pack of Tofu. The sauce looked like it was too much when assembling it, but it was perfect when thickened in the pan.
I prefer my dishes a little hotter, so added crushed chili oil. This recipe is going into my recipe book (one of many from Nagi!)
Hi nagi,I use your recipes at least 2 or 3 times a week with the odd adaptation here and there, so a big thanks for the effort and details you include. I have noticed refrence to recipetineats app when I try to click on i get go daddy offering to try and purchase the domain for me, can I bypass this
Hi Chic, thanks for picking this up – this was one of my first published recipes, the app is no longer available sorry! N x
Nagi, please, please don’t stop dishing out the tofu recipes. It’s the loss of the non tofu eaters who do not know what they’re missing out on! By the way, this mapo tofu is just WOW. Thanks heaps.
Made this tonight for dinner, SO TASTY! Added in some grated carrot, Chinese broccoli, and baby peas to bulk it up and have enough for a couple of lunches during the week. Will add this recipe to my regular rotation 🙂
Wonderful recipe. Simple and packed with flavour! Will definitely become a staple for our midweek dinners.
My kids love this- as you say it’s less oily and spicy than most recipes.
This was so good! I never could quite make a mean mapo tofu but this recipe, wow, definitely will be on the rotation for quick easy dinners! Thank you Nagi!!
Hi Nagi,
Do you mean long green onions or mini onions?
Hi Joy, I use shallots which are also called scallions or green onions depending on where you’re located. N x
Hi Nagi! How do you think tofu puffs would go for this dish? I discovered them with your laksa recipe and now LOVEEE them!
Hi Addy, It’s not quite the same but yes you could sub with tofu puffs if you like 🙂 N x
We often use the packet mixes for a quick meal but not anymore! We love your recipes as we love Asian and this didn’t fail to satisfy! We had all of the ingredients as they are staples for us. Tasty, saucy and relatively quick and easy!!!
So simple!
So tasty!!!
Definitely great with a little Szechuan pepper on top- I also used a generous scoop of Lao Gan Ma crispy chilli oil.
YUUUMMMMM!!! I totally agree! N x
I come back to this recipe again and again. The whole family enjoys it. So satisfyingly saucey.
Tried this tonight and it was delicious! I made traditional mapo tofu a month ago and found it to be too oily and the szechuan powder to be too overpowering. I did add dried chili peppers and a very tiny bit of ground szechuan pepper just for that little kick I was looking for. Turned out perfectly. Thanks!
That’s great to hear Jessica! N x
Just cooked and we loved it! Doubled the sauce since we added veggies like eggplant, plus red chili for heat. We also like soft tofu more than firm, so we used that. We just added the tofu last so it won’t break apart.
One question though, we used black bean sauce. Is that the same as chili bean sauce? The black bean sauce we used was very salty so we had to add a bit more water.
Hi Jess, no black bean sauce is different and yes, it’s a salty sauce. If you don’y have chilli bean sauce you can use another chilli sauce like sriracha. N x
So yum!!! I much prefer this over the Chinese version Thank you Nagi! I never have to adjust any seasonings with your recipes.
I’m so happy you enjoyed it Rachel!