Mapo Tofu Recipe & Video

Low-fat Mapo Tofu Recipe!

Mapo tofu is one of the signature dish from Sichuan, China. Silky soft tofu swimming in spicy sauce. Originally, mapo tofu is very oily dish but I made this recipe more easy on our tummy by reducing excess fat amount.

Mapo tofu is also a dish that very easy to turning into plant based/vegetarian dish. All you have to do is us different protein, vegetarian oyster sauce and veggie broth instead chicken broth. I will explain more details as I go.

You can definitely adjust spiciness to you liking. It is amazing with warm cooked rice. 🤤 But if you are doing keto diet or low carb diet, cauliflower rice will do! I have huge respect for people who can do keto/low carb because I can’t give up my rice or noodles! 😂

You can make this less than 20 minutes if you are experienced cook or 30 minutes if you are beginner. Easy fix meal for weeknight dinner or it can be weekend treat! Are we ready? Let’s get started!

As all the great Asian recipe starts, we need to chop Asian trinity. 3 large cloves garlic, 2 oz ginger and 3 green onions. Oh, also 1 chili. Chili is optional for those who love spicy spicy food like me!

Don’t forget to save some green part of green onion for later for garnish.

Combine all ingredients for sauce in a small mixing bowl, set aside. 

Ingredients for the sauce:

• 2 tbsp tobanjang, Chinese chili bean paste (use Doenjang, miso or yellow bean paste for non spicy version!)
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (you can use vegetarian oyster sauce too!)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine, optional
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar or agave nectar

Bring 1 block (14 oz) of silken tofu to cutting board. Make sure to drain all liquid in the package. Cut them into 3/4-inch cubes.

I always use this Korean brand tofu, because it’s the best taste tofu for me. You can use any brand tofu you like.

Heat a cast iron wok over medium heat. (if you are using carbon steal wok, heat over high heat and adjust cooking time through out the recipe.) Add 1 tbsp cooking oil (I use avocado oil for my all propose oil), 1 tbsp chili oil (you can substitute to cooking oil if you want it to be mild), chopped garlic, ginger, chili and green onions. Stir fry all together about 1 minute then stir in 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder. (You can prepare Sichuan peppercorn by yourself or purchase already toasted & grind for you!)

If you want to make your own homemade chili oil and also want to know how to prepare Sichuan peppercorn, check out my chili oil recipe! It is the BOMB!!! You will never go back to store bought chili oil!

The BEST Chili Oil Recipe & Video

Add 1/2 lb of your choice of protein and breakdown into small pieces. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until fully cooked and ground edges.

The portion you can use are :

• ground pork
• ground beef
• ground chicken
• ground lamb
• ground turkey
• crumbled tofu
• chopped mushrooms
• plant based meat

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This cast iron pan is 3 layered seasoned with flaxseed oil so you don’t have to season them before use.

 The best part of this cast iron pan is you can wash with soap!! Yes, I said it, you can wash this cast iron pan with soap! 

This cast iron pan is proudly 100% hand crafted in Korea! 🇰🇷

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Pour the sauce mixture and stir fry sauce, protein and aromatic vegetables together about 2 to 3 minutes. This way aromas and flavors from the sauces will enhance!

Pour 2 cups of chicken or veggie stock and deglaze the bottom of the wok. Bring it to boil. Add cubed tofu and carefully stir. You want to keep the shape of tofu as square as possible. Bring back to boil.

Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water. Pour the starch mixture into boiling mapo tofu base while carefully stirring. This is very important, because cornstarch mixture will thicken mapo tofu immediately only where it added into.

Garnish with some chopped green onions and extra Sichuan peppercorn powder. Serve with warm cooked rice. Enjoy!

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