Mapo Tofu, the Chengdu Way

Chengdu-style mapo tofu with crisp beef mince, Pixian broad bean paste and green garlic, thickened in three stages until the sauce clings and the red oil shows. Ready in 25 minutes and costed for Australian kitchens.

Ingredients for 3

Australian tablespoons are 20 ml. Weights are given for the ingredients where it matters.

Method

1. Step 1Prep everything

   Cut the tofu into 2 cm cubes. Finely chop the broad bean paste and roughly chop the black beans. Mince the garlic and ginger. Cut the green garlic, keeping the white parts separate from the green leaves. Mix the cornflour with 60 ml cold water.

   

2. Step 2Blanch the tofu

   Bring about 1 litre of water and 1 tsp salt to a bare simmer. Slide in the tofu and keep it just below a boil for 1 minute. Leave the tofu in the warm water until you need it.

   

3. Step 3Fry the beef until dry

   Heat the wok, add the oil, then the beef. Break it up and fry over medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes, until the moisture has cooked off and the crumbs are browned and a little crisp.

   

4. Step 4Make the red oil

   Turn the heat to medium-low and push the beef to one side. Fry the broad bean paste in the oil for 1–2 minutes, until the oil turns deep red and smells rich. Add the black beans, chilli powder, garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds more. Don't let the chilli burn.

   

5. Step 5Add liquid and season

   Pour in the water or stock and bring it to the boil. Add the soy sauce and sugar. Taste before adding any salt, because the bean paste is already salty.

6. Step 6Simmer the tofu

   Drain the tofu and slide it into the sauce. Push it gently with the back of the ladle rather than stirring. Simmer on medium for 4–5 minutes so the tofu takes on the flavour.

   

7. Step 7Thicken in three stages

   Stir the slurry. Pour a third of it around the edge of the wok and shake the wok gently. Wait 20–30 seconds and repeat twice. Add the white parts of the green garlic with the second addition and the leaves with the last. Stop when the sauce is glossy, clings to the tofu and shows red oil at the edge.

   

8. Step 8Serve hot

   Slide it into a shallow bowl, sprinkle over the ground Sichuan pepper and serve straight away with steamed rice.

   

Watch it in 49 seconds

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Why this version works

• Beef mince, not pork. Chengdu cooks traditionally use beef, fried until dry and crumbly so it stays crisp in the sauce. Pork is the common swap in Japan and overseas, and it works too.
• The red comes from the paste. Pixian broad bean paste is fried slowly in oil until the oil turns brick red, which gives the dish its colour and depth.
• Blanch the tofu first. A minute in barely simmering salted water firms the cubes, seasons them and takes away the raw bean taste.
• Thicken in three stages. Adding the slurry a little at a time gives a glossy sauce that clings to the tofu with red oil around the edge, rather than a gluey one.
• Push, don't stir. Move the tofu with the back of the ladle and shake the wok so the cubes stay whole.
• Green garlic and Sichuan pepper go in last. Green garlic leaves are the classic garnish, and ground roasted Sichuan pepper is sprinkled on at the table for the numbing tingle. Serve it very hot.

Swaps and variations

• Japanese home style (after Chen Kenmin): use pork mince, add 1 tbsp sweet bean sauce (tianmianjiang) with the chilli bean paste and leave out the chilli powder. This version is rounder and milder.
• Silken tofu: it is softer and more delicate, so blanch it for only 30 seconds and be extra gentle when pushing it in the wok.
• No green garlic: use spring onion greens. The dish is a little less aromatic but still very good.
• Lower sodium: use 20 g of bean paste and leave out the soy sauce. This cuts about a third of the sodium.

Nutrition per serve

Calculated by Umall from the ingredient weights, using the label of the tofu we link (Evergreen Classic Tofu), the Australian Food Composition Database (FSANZ) and product labels for the bean paste and black beans. Values are estimates and vary with the brands you use; a firmer tofu adds about 110 kcal per serve. Energy bands are a guide to portion size, not a health claim.

Questions about Mapo Tofu

Sources and credit

Method adapted by the Umall recipe team from Chef Wang Gang's Sichuan mapo tofu, cross-checked against Chen Kenmin's NHK recipe and other Chinese and Japanese home-cooking sources (listed below). Quantities are our own, scaled for Australian kitchens and Umall products.

• 美食作家王刚 (Chef Wang Gang), 厨师长教你：麻婆豆腐的正宗做法, video, 2018
• 陳建民 (Chen Kenmin), 麻婆豆腐, NHK きょうの料理
• Kurashiru, 本格 四川風麻婆豆腐
• Sohu, 教你做出成都最正统的麻辣豆腐