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%)
My family loves Mapo Tofu, and I have been searching for a delicious recipe. This one was an absolute hit!!! So tasty, I am making it again tonight and adding some peas at the request of my kids.
I’m so glad you loved it Janine!!
Made this with Quorn Mince to make it vegetarian and it was delicious.
To make it an ‘all in one’ meal, and had these in the freezer, I added haricots verts and soya beans. Thumbs up from the family.
That’s so great to hear Rose ❤️
What should I replace the chili bean with if I didn’t want it to be spicy at all?
Hi Leony, you really need the chilli bean mix to make this dish, you can reduce it if you prefer – N x
Never been a fan of Tofu but have been trying a few different recipes with it as it is so good for you. This is a real winner. Absolutely loved it. Made enough for work lunches for the week. Thank you for the great recipe!!!
Perfect Linda, I’m so glad you loved it!
That was so flippin delish! Made a double batch to use up the whole tofu block, lunch tomorrow yeeha!
Woot! So glad you love it Hilary!
Tasty!! I love mapo tofu! I doubled it so my husband would have something tasty for dinner for his shift work. Thanks Nagi!
Oh and I made this with turkey mince, it is on special at coles and I like how it has a more meatier flavour than chicken mince.
That’s great to hear Chantelle! Thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback! N x ❤️
Thank you, Nagi, for another ‘keeper’ ☺ Made this for dinner tonight and even hot food intolerant hubby loved it! It was delish!!!!
This was beautiful and I love how saucy it was! Thank you for sharing!
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Phyllis, thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi!
Just want to thank you for this Recipe, ’cause it’s fanta-bulous! ?
I have been feeling under the weather for the past one week or so and this is exactly what I need, so comforting and YUM! ?
I doubled the recipe ’cause I made it for Breakfast AND Lunch (for the following day ?)
I added a bit more Chilli Bean Sauce, a few dashes of Thai Fish Sauce and some cut Bird’s Eye Chillis (I love my food SUPER SPICY ?) and I stick to 1 tsp of Sesame Oil for the Sauce though I doubled everything else because I find too much of sesame oil can be so overwhelming…
It turned out to be so delish and yummy-licious! ?
Thank you for this awesome Recipe!
I just made your “One-Pan Spanish Chicken with Chorizo, Tomatoes & Potatoes” yesterday and I can’t wait to make all your other Recipes!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Daisukigo, thank you for letting me know! And I’m glad you enjoyed the Spanish Chicken too!! N x
Since you live in Australia, do you use metric tablespoons (20mL) or the U.S ones (15mL)?
Hi Cameron! I use Australian but for all my recipes, you can use tbsp / cup etc measures wherever you are because the difference is not enough to affect the recipe UNLESS the recipe specifies. So for example, in some baking recipes where it matters whether US or AUS tbsp measures are used, I provide different measures for people in different countries! 🙂
i learned a version of Ma Po Tofu from a friend in Shenyang China that included peanuts and many red chiles. very fiery. i’m excited to try this version!
Oooh! The Sichuan version is so much more spicy!!! I hope you enjoy this Japanese version 🙂
Hi Nagi, I spent a year working in Japan where I became addicted to mapo tofu! Can’t wait to try this recipe. Being that you were born and raised in Nihon, I’m hoping that you have a recipe for takoyaki just waiting to flow from your nimble fingers into your blog. Keep up the good work. Aloha from Hawaii. P.S. How do you folks down under keep the ingredients from falling up out of the pot?
Oooh! I hope you do try this Gary!!! As for Takoyaki – my mother is starting a Japanese food blog off shoot to RecipeTin Eats and it WILL be on there because I will demand it!!! 😉 N x
hi! I don’t know how to add the recipes in recipe tin, can you help?
Hi Josie! All you do is open the app on your iPhone/iPad, tap on the browser, open this recipe in the browser. Then tap the “Print” button on the recipe (so that way all the ads etc are removed and you just have the recipe) then tap Save and it’ll go straight into the RecipeTin app! 🙂
Hi Nagi! I made this for lunch yesterday and it was very yummy! I liked this not-so-spicy version. The Spork also really enjoyed it!
I giggle every time I see you refer to the Spork! I’m so glad you liked this version of Mapo Tofu!! Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! N x
I keep hearing of Mapo tofu but never tried it before. I love the addition of ground beef in there for added texture. Need to try this one day!
Hope you do! This is really delicious. I love strong flavoured dishes and this is right up there!