Traditional Sichuan mapo tofu: soft tofu in a spicy sauce of bean paste and Sichuan pepper

Mapo tofu means pockmarked old woman's tofu. The story goes that in Chengdu, in the second half of the 19th century, a woman with a scarred face, married to a tavern keeper, served the oil porters passing her door a tofu cooked with chili and a bit of the meat they brought. The dish became famous, the tavern became a restaurant and it exists to this day.

It is the essence of Sichuan cooking: ma, the tingling of Sichuan pepper, and la, the burn of red chili, together in a bright red sauce glistening with oil. The base is doubanjiang, the fermented broad bean and chili paste from Pixian, without which there is no real mapo tofu. It is sold in Asian grocery stores and keeps for months in the fridge.

The tofu has to be soft, blanched in salted water first so it does not break, and the sauce thickened with starch in two or three additions, until it coats the cubes without drowning them. Served over white rice, it is a 15-minute dish at the stove.

Recipe card

• Origin: Chengdu, Sichuan, China
• Category: Main course, stir-fry
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 15 minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 500 g soft tofu (silken or soft) in 2 cm cubes
• 150 g ground beef or pork
• 2 tablespoons doubanjiang (Sichuan broad bean chili paste)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fermented black beans (douchi, optional)
• 1 tablespoon red chili powder or flakes
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 250 ml chicken stock or water
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt for blanching the tofu
• White rice to serve

Method

1. Blanch the tofu cubes in boiling water with the salt for 2 minutes, drain carefully and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan over high heat and fry the ground meat, stirring, until browned and crispy.
3. Lower to medium heat, add the doubanjiang and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the oil turns red.
4. Add the douchi, chili powder, garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
5. Pour in the stock, soy sauce and sugar and bring to a boil.
6. Add the tofu gently, pushing with the back of the spoon instead of stirring, and cook for 3 minutes to absorb the sauce.
7. Add the dissolved starch in two additions, stirring slowly, until the sauce thickens and turns glossy, coating the cubes.
8. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with the ground Sichuan pepper and the scallions and serve with rice.

Tips and variations

• Toast the Sichuan pepper in a dry pan for 1 minute before grinding: the aroma doubles.
• Vegetarian version: swap the meat for chopped shiitake mushrooms fried until golden.
• Aged Pixian doubanjiang is the best; the regular kind works with a little more chili.
• Less heat: reduce the chili powder, but keep the doubanjiang, which gives the flavor.
• The sauce should be loose and glossy, not a paste; add stock if it thickens too much.
• Chinese leek or the green part of fresh garlic at the end is the Chengdu version.
• Eat immediately: the tofu keeps cooking and loses its texture.

Mapo tofu is spicy, tingling, oily and addictive, which is why Sichuan eats it every day. With a bowl of rice, it is China on a plate.