Sichuan fire: Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐

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Grandmother's spicy tofu is an essential Sichuan dish, and graces the menu of every Sichuan restaurant I've ever seen, anywhere in the world. It is quintessential Sichuan food, bursting with flavor and chock full of bold spices. The Chinese name refers to its historical inventor, a grandma with a pockmarked 麻子 face. Yunnan, where I live, has fondly adopted this dish and has made it our own. Not surprising, since we appreciate spicy food here just about as much as they do in Sichuan.

 

After enjoying it for years in restaurants, I've been making it at home these last several months. A major advantage of doing it yourself is that you can adjust the heat of the dish, adapting it somewhat to your likes and dislikes, while still retaining its essential character. But I don't want to mislead you: no matter how you tweak it, this is food for an adventurous palate. It's not white toast or mashed potatoes. Let me show you how I made it yesterday.

 

Like many good things here, it begins with a trip to the market to pick up the best fresh ingredients. I almost always approach these projects by telling the vendor what I intend to make and asking for specific ingredient recommendations. My usual tofu seller reluctantly turned me away. He specializes in tofu from Shiping Town and he told me what I needed for this recipe could be had for half as much money just across the alley.

 

(As always, click the photos to enlarge them.)

 

 

 

What I needed was "soft" 嫩 tofu, and that's what I got. Neither the silky "flower" tofu 豆花 that falls apart immediately or the "firm" tofu 老豆腐 that is best for sautéing. Will show it to you closer in a minute. I also bought long, tender green garlic greens, plucked before they start to form the characteristic root bulb. These go by the name 蒜苗 or 青蒜 and Sichuan cooks love them. They impart a mild garlic flavor, with some crunch and a fresh note missing from dried cloves of garlic. They are "brighter" as well as more subtle. To the right of the garlic greens in the photo above you see fresh cilantro, complete with roots, stems, and leaves. I bought a handful of these. They have so much more flavor than dried coriander seeds.

 

 

 

On to the spice lady now, master of pickled foods and slow-preserved sauces, some of which you see just above. I always get a thrill out of entering her kingdom, and linger as long as I possibly can. She shows me new arrivals and tells me of alternatives to my tried and true selections, tempting me to expand my horizons.

 

My shopping list from her only called for two items, but both were crucial to the success of the venture and neither would admit of any compromise. First was 豆豉, salty fermented black soybeans. These are in the left foreground of the picture above left. The beans are discrete, not mashed into a paste; but note that they aren't black "turtle beans" such as are used in Mexican cooking; they are a special soybean variety. 

 

And the star of the seasoning lineup, and one of her specialties, was the rightly famous Pixian douban jiang 郫县豆瓣酱。It is shown in the photo above right, in the big bowl on the left-hand side. This magnificent seasoning has often been described as "the soul of Sichuan cuisine." It is made from fermented broad beans and chilies, plus an assortment of auxiliary spices. The best of it takes months or even years to ferment and has so much punch you can smell it across the room.

 

Let me show you now how all this came together in my Kunming kitchen yesterday afternoon. Important side-note: Before anything else, as in most Chinese home cooking, start soaking the rice. It needs a 15 minute pre-soak, and then requires about 30 minutes to boil and steam in my electric rice cooker. I do ingredient prep while the rice gets a head start, but never actually fire up the wok until the rice is completely ready. 

 

 

 

 

 

One prep item was a little out of the ordinary, and that was the essential Sichuan peppercorns 花椒。For this dish they need to be toasted and ground. I used a non-stick skillet with no oil and a marble mortar and pestle. You toast them until they begin releasing their aroma. When you smell them at that moment, it's a reminder that they aren't really peppers at all, they are unusual members of the citrus family. They have a distinct citrus aroma. I used two teaspoons of them.

 

The tofu needs to be cut into cubes and soaked for 20 minutes or so in lightly-salted warm water. This does two things: first it removes any "off" flavors and second, it firms it up a bit so that is easier to handle during cooking. Less likely to fall apart or crumble. 

 

 

Finely sliver or mince some fresh ginger 生姜，enough to make two or three teaspoons. Do the same with two cloves of dry garlic 大蒜 and roughly tear apart three or four dried red chilies 干红辣椒。This is an important juncture because it's where you can easily alter how fiery you want the dish to be. To crank up the heat, use fresh chilies instead of dry ones. Selecting more potent chilies will allow you to earn admission to the "forehead drenched in sweat club" when you eat the finished product. 出汗

 

 

 

Finely cut the garlic greens 蒜苗, fresh cilantro 香菜, and the white of a large spring onion 大葱。I hold back a few of the chopped garlic greens and coriander so I can sprinkle them on the top of the finished dish as a garnish. I do the same with some of the crushed 花椒 toasted and ground Sichuan peppers.

 

    

 

 

The rice just now announced that it was ready. I checked it, gave it a quick stir with a pair of chopsticks, unplugged the cooker and cracked the lid. Gently drain the tofu and set it aside.

 

Everything is now ready to go, including the ground pork. One could use beef instead. I bought about 400 grams of tofu and abut 50 grams of meat. (I buy them by eye and then weigh them afterwards at home.) A ratio of six or eight to one is about right. This is mainly a tofu dish, not a meat dish. Mushrooms can be substituted for the meat if you are vegetarian.

 

I've laid out two heaping tablespoons of douban jiang 郫县豆瓣酱 (on the left) and one heaping tablespoon of fermented black beans 豆豉 (on the right.)  Used my big knife 菜刀 to finely chop the black beans so they will cook a bit quicker.

 

 

 

 

 

Add some oil to a hot wok, quickly stir-fry the minced ginger, and add the garlic and dry red peppers when it begins to change color. Taking care not to burn the garlic, next add the ground meat and fry it until it looses it's pink color.

 

 

 

Add the chopped garlic greens, cilantro, and spring onion, stirring quickly 翻炒 over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of light soy sauce 生抽, two tablespoons of Shaoxing cooking wine 料酒, and about a cup of chicken stock or water. This is the point at which to add a teaspoon or so of sugar if you think it is getting too spicy. Sugar seems to slightly moderate the heat. Mix everything well and then gently add the tofu, turning the fire to low.

 

 

 

Let the tofu cook 2 or 3 minutes with minimal stirring. When you do stir it, do so with the back of your wok tool 锅铲 or ladle 大汤勺, only pushing slowly away from yourself, moving it in one direction only. No vigorous swirling, flipping or back and forth movements that might cause the tofu to fall apart and sort of just disappear.

 

When the tofu has taken on the colors of the sauce in which it is cooking, you can thicken the juices with a mixture of cornstarch 淀粉 and water 水淀粉, prepared ahead of time by mixing one teaspoon of corn starch with two or three teaspoons of water. Don't add too much. The pan juices should just barely coat the back of your spatula or ladle. Don't turn it into a paste. I usually don't put in any extra salt because the beans, bean paste and soy sauce all are salty.

 

Sprinkle on the remainder of the freshly ground Sichuan peppercorns, scoop it all out into a bowl and garnish with some of the reserved greens. 

 

 

 

 

This is a dish that is best served right away, while it is hot, straight from the stove. Diners, myself included, often heap some of it directly on top of a bowl of steamed rice and eat it that way.

 

 

 

 

Might mention that some recipes call for adding additional vegetables to turn it into a one-dish meal. Though that's an approach I sometimes take with other Chinese food, I prefer not to risk messing up this classic. After all, it's one of China's "top ten" signature dishes, famous throughout the Middle Kingdom as well as all corners of the "outside world."

 

Give it a try if you are in the mood for something spicy and memorable. It will make your day and it will do it the Sichuan way!

 

 

[陳德聰]

Love this dish. I usually add a tablespoon of the red oil from my jar of 老乾媽 along with the black bean and 豆瓣醬, and then a teaspoon-ish of sugar with the soy sauce if it feels too spicy.

[abcdefg]

Like you, I add some sugar if it feels too spicy. Glad you mentioned that. I will go back and include that tip in the recipe.

 

Wish I had some of that hand-made 老干妈 red oil. I'm jealous!

 

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Edit: I now see 老干妈 is a brand of bottled chili sauce. Found it offered on Amazon. Looks good.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051D84JU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0051D84JU&linkCode=as2&tag=chinesehotp0a-20 

[somethingfunny]

47 minutes ago, 陳德聰 said:

I usually add a tablespoon of the red oil

 

Yeah.  I was going to mention this.  While it looks delicious, it's a little less red than I'm used to seeing.  I think a true Sichuan version would be significantly more oily and that would involve adding some 红辣椒油 or whatever it's called.

 

I never really enjoyed ordering this dish in restaurants as I'm not a fan of softer tofu and the way it seems to get away from you when you're grabbing at it with your chopsticks.  I made it once, under someone else's guidance, and it was absolutely brutal - all of the Sichuan peppercorns were sprinkled generously over the top.

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21 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

While it looks delicious, it's a little less red than I'm used to seeing. 

 

True 郫县豆瓣酱 comes from the place of that name in Sichuan, and is said to be special at least in part because of the water and climate there where it is made. What I've read is that it also is distinguished from "ordinary" 豆瓣酱 by the type of beans used (only broad beans, not a mix of broad beans and soybeans) and the complimentary seasonings. Some cooks even use a little orange peel in the manufacture, for example. (That's supposed to be a family secret.) The best of this is fermented a long time, up to 3 years. It slowly acquires a truly complex taste profile.

 

 

The spice lady tried explaining it to me, but it was real complicated and I kind of got lost. She loves her specialty and often goes into more detail than I can grasp. She had 4 kinds of douban jiang 豆瓣酱 on hand that day, as shown in the attached photo. She said the one top left was the most authentic, and it does have a somewhat redder color. She said it also was sweeter. But she steered me to the one at bottom left, saying she thought it was "better tasting" all around. I didn't press her hard enough on the details.

 

 

Some that I've seen for sale on the shelves of stores 超市 here do have a stronger red color. And some of the recipes I found on the Chinese internet in researching how to make the dish, did suggest adding some red chili oil. I've also learned that many Sichuan home cooks who makes their own douban jiang add red chili oil 红油 to it in the process.

 

But I didn't have any on hand. Maybe next time I will buy some and try it as an addition, kind of like 陈老师 suggested above. It came out real good without it but, who knows, that might make 麻婆豆腐 even better. Stay tuned and I'll report back before long!

 

 

[Shelley]

Thank you for your continued efforts to bring us a little bit of "genuine" chinese home cooking. Looks nice but it not for me, again too spicy and I really don't like ginger and garlic. I know, I know - What you don't like ginger and garlic? what are you some sort of food loony?

 

I hope all of you who do like these things will enjoy it.

[abcdefg]

Thanks for your comments, @Shelley. It's OK that you don't like certain foods. Not everyone is the same. If I recall correctly, you also aren't fond of the mouth-numbing 花椒 sensation, and that spice features heavily in this dish. At least now you know that if someone invites you to a Sichuan restaurant, you should not order the Mapo Tofu.

[Alex_Hart]

Nice recipe, abcd! 麻婆豆腐 was the first Chinese dish that I really fell in love with, and it sparked a long romance that continues to this day. I used to buy it from a restaurant called "Little Pepper" alongside "Stir Fried Snow Pea Tips" every Friday night. Heaven. This was when I was around 16 or 17. When I was 20, I went to Chengdu for three months and ate it two or three times a week. Little Pepper's Mapo Doufu never shined as brightly - the ones in Chengdu blew it away. It was also the first dish I tried making at home, first using Fuschia Dunlop's recipe before riffing off that. I asked my now-girlfriend out on a date three times over 9 months (a mix of 脸皮厚 and miscues), but she only showed any interest after coming to my apartment on a frosty October night and eating homemade 麻婆豆腐 and 回锅肉 (another recipe you should post about!). Still, no dish I made (or tasted) really stood up to the standards of the most humble Chengdu joints. After conversations with Sichuanese natives both back in NYC and here in Hangzhou, I blame this on the lack of "homemade" ingredients like oil. I've since started making my own spicy oil, but I'm not sure they have anything other than jarred 豆瓣酱 here. Chengdu’s streets were much like Kunmings, with tables covered in 20-30 different jars of pastes. Can't help but think that's part of the key!

 

My recipe is pretty much the same as yours, but I use way more chilis and peppercorns. I never measured, but I'd say at least a tablespoon of peppercorns. I also ladle over some spicy oil at the end. I change my oil up, but basically use five spice powder and change up the chilis. As you might guess, I make a double serving of rice when I'm planning on eating Mapo tofu.

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@Alex_Hart-- Do you make a vegetarian version using mushrooms instead of ground meat? I've seen recipes for that which look excellent.

 

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Chengdu’s streets were much like Kunmings, with tables covered in 20-30 different jars of pastes. Can't help but think that's part of the key!

 

I'm sure you are right! These hand made pickles, sauces and pastes are nearly always superior to their mass-produced factory versions. For one thing, they are less full of preservatives. For another, they seldom have artificial coloring ingredients intended to boost eye appeal on the shelf.

 

In researching this dish, mapo doufu, I looked up the Fucsia Dunlop version (in "Land of Plenty.") It's a good, simple, basic approach, with less frills than many recipes that I found on the Chinese internet. I always appreciate her "no-nonsense" approach to these things.

[Alex_Hart]

I sometimes chop mushrooms small and give them a light fry to put on top, and I've done the same with the strips of 将油豆腐 that I love here. I also tried it once with smoked tofu. I often skip this step, though.

 

A lot of the jarred versions also have a funky flavor mixed in. Not sure if this is the preservatives or what. It's what prompted me to start making my own 辣油.

 

Her recipes are great for reference. Can easily add stuff, and I usually reference two or three online recipes whenever I want to cook something new to compare.

[somethingfunny]

I wonder how you make your 辣油.  I've tried making it once and it was fairly complicated, but the result was pretty powerful.

[Alex_Hart]

2 hours ago, somethingfunny said:

I wonder how you make your 辣油.  I've tried making it once and it was fairly complicated, but the result was pretty powerful.

I think 红油 is pretty simple. There are so many different renditions that you can make it really complex or really simple based on your needs - my friend's mom spends 2 months making it, apparently. I've yet to try her's so sadly can't comment on the differences. 

 

I take whole spices and toast them lightly in a pan before crushing them with the butt of a knife. Pestle and mortar would be better, but I don't have one. I usually use Chinese cinnamon, star anise, fennel, cloves, Sichuanese peppercorns, black pepper and coriander seeds - the 阿姨 at the store has little bags like this prepared for people making 茶叶蛋. You can use any neutral oil, but I like using 茶油, tea seed oil, which I get from my girlfriend's father. We have a "high grade" and a "low grade" in the apartment, I just use the low grade one for this. Vegetable, corn oil, etc should all be fine. 

 

Put a pan on low heat, add the oil (I've never measured, but you can adjust this for how much "spice" flavor you want) and the spices. Keep it on a low heat for 30 minutes. This is the hardest part as high temperatures will burn it, but low temperatures won't infuse fast enough. I think Fuschia Dunlop just heats the oil up and then pours it over the spices, I haven't tried that yet but will do so one day as it's more convenient - I've burned my spices more than once, partly due to my Chinese stove's high minimum temperature and partly because I got distracted. If you do the low heat infusion, be sure to stir frequently. 

 

Prepare a bowl or jar and fill it with ground chilis - how much is up to you, I use a lot, usually filling as much of the vessel as I can while leaving room for the oil (eyeballing it). This is your most important ingredient, so choose wisely. I've made it with a lot of different kinds of chili, including 四川辣椒 from the store, and have almost always disliked it based on the chili taste. For example, the store bought 四川辣椒 was really 清单, with a monotonous taste and no real spice. The random 辣椒 from the  阿姨 was just spicy with no real complexity behind it. My best luck has been with whole chilis. There is an 阿姨 who will take whole dried chilis and grind them before handing them to you - I don't know if it's the variety of chili or the fresh grind that matters. I also try to mix peppers now, so I use the pepper from my girlfriend's hometown (I'm not sure of the name in 普通话, but I think it's the same as whatever they use in 江西 or 安徽) and mix it with the dried chilis I find in the store here.

 

Strain the spices from the oil, and pour the oil over the chilis in the bowl (you don't need to strain the chili powder/flakes). Let it cool down, cover it and put it away for at least a day, though I usually wait 3 to 4 before trying it. There are infinite variations off this, I think you can add garlic and fresh peppers to get something akin to what I had in 桂林, I also saw a recipe where they added soy sauce. The basic one is good for most recipes though. You can also add or subtract spices based on personal taste. For example, if you don't want the taste of clove in your 麻婆豆腐, taking it out won't hurt anything.

 

Side note: the best 红油 I ever had was in NYC, not China, at a tiny wonton place called "White Bear." I have no idea how they made it, and I wish I could go back just to ask this question, but I used to pour that stuff down my throat. The chili flakes were much darker than the ones I'm accustomed to seeing here, so I'm wondering if they toasted them more or if they used a different variety. One day I'll move to Kunming or Sichuan and make a tour of all the oil places - I've seen in a movie the traditional method of producing oil and would love to go on a tour of "oil houses" like people go on "wine tasting" or "brewery" tours...

[Alex_Hart]

You made me want some 麻婆豆腐 so I'm going to make some tonight and was hunting for different recipes, found this one. Looks good. Unfortunately, I went to the store and they only had the packaged 郫县豆瓣酱 and no ya cai. Will need to travel south and stock up before trying it!

[somethingfunny]

What's the verdict on yacai?  We can get some here but only the packaged stuff.  Although, as its just pickled vegetables I guess there's no chance of it going off - I'm just concerned the taste might not be as delicious as it could be...

[Alex_Hart]

4 minutes ago, somethingfunny said:

What's the verdict on yacai?  We can get some here but only the packaged stuff.  Although, as its just pickled vegetables I guess there's no chance of it going off - I'm just concerned the taste might not be as delicious as it could be...

I have not had great luck with the packaged pickle type things like 芽菜 and 榨菜(which I can find here fresh) so chose to forego it in the recipe. I've had it fresh elsewhere in China as part of stir fries or on the side and it was quite delicious - just tastes salty when out of the bag. 

[somethingfunny]

I used it once to make the gubbins for 担担面 (actually that might have been 榨菜) and it seemed to do the job, but I'm not sure I'd like to eat it by itself.

[Shelley]

Did anyone see this? http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-10/10/content_33073066.htm

 

I was quite amazed at the power of Sichuan sauce.

[roddy]

Was having paneer yesterday and it was reminding me of a very firm tofu. I reckon you could substitute them in certain dishes.

[889]

I also like paneer. More than tofu actually: it's got a bit more bite and texture.

 

But it's rich, and usually used in quite rich dishes. There's a limit on how much paneer you can gobble down, at least at a single sitting.

 

Tofu, on the other hand is light and never seems to fill your stomach. You could have tofu in one form or another morning, noon and night and still be hungry.

 

So doesn't that suggest the culinary exchange should work in the other direction, using tofu in Indian dishes instead of paneer?

 

Perhaps ABCDEFG can whip up some Tofu Tikka Masala for us, and we'll see.

 

Edit: A quick Google search shows all sorts of recipes for Tofu Tikka Masala.

 

[abcdefg]

15 hours ago, Shelley said:

I was quite amazed at the power of Sichuan sauce.

 

That is a surprising phenomenon, Shelley. I had not heard about it.

 

 

They could find a medium-sized jar of it on the shelf at my neighborhood store for 9 or 10 Yuan, and it would be the real thing, not something "adapted" and watered down.

 

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The Szechuan Sauce with plum flavor is more of a product to suit the American taste. One food website even decoded that it can be made in 10 minutes with ingredients such as brown sugar, red rice vinegar, ketchup, soybean sauce, and peppers.