Forage

A playground for culinary experiments.

Mapo Tofu

Food • • Audrey Chong

Mapo Tofu

Probably the best way to eat tofu.

The great thing about mapo tofu is that there is no one style or one taste profile so you can cook it in a few ways with a variety of ingredients that takes your fancy. So when you cook this at home, you don’t have to waste time picking out the vegetables you hate, in my case, bell peppers!

Ingredients

  • 1 tray of silken tofu
  • 250g minced pork (or beef or chicken)
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 3 sprigs of spring onions, chopped
  • 7 fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 tbsp gochujang (Korean spicy bean paste)
  • 1/2 tbsp Szechuan chilli oil
  • 1/2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbs cooking oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp sugar
  • Pinch of white pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan on medium high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry until golden brown and fragrant.
  2. Add minced pork and stir-fry until cooked through. Stir in gochuchang, Szechuan chilli oil, oyster sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, pepper and sugar.
  3. Once sauces are well incorporated into the cooked minced meat, toss in the chopped mushrooms and spring onions.
  4. Meanwhile open a pack of silken tofu and cube it by making cuts into the tray with a knife.
  5. Place the cubed tofu gently into the wok with the rest of the ingredients and simmer, covered over low heat for 5 mins.
  6. Gently toss the minced meat mixture over the tofu and loosely spread the tofu evenly.
  7. Turn off heat and transfer to a bowl and garnish with some hand-torn coriander (totally optional).

Serve with fragrant Jasmine rice or if you’re like me who likes sticky rice, try it over Japanese rice!

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