Pictorial: Ma Po Tofu

[hzrt8w]

I'm intrigued by the black beans mentioned by some of you. I definitely would like to try adding some next time. how much would you use?

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albiston: Thank you for your feedback. If I use fermented black beans, I think 2 tsp would be enough.

[OnigiriFB]

I made ma po tofu today using your recipe and I have to say YUM!!! I think I goofed a bit and had too much bean sauce and not enough hoisin but other wise it was great. Definately going to be something I'll be making often. I'm thinking my chinese delivery restaurant is going to miss me from now on. Next week I think I'll be trying some more of your nummy recipes. Thanks I'd post a pic but I kinda forgot how to again.

[torakris]

I made this last night!

My three kids all devoured it! I cut back on the chiles and chile paste a bit but it was great.

I normally make mapotofu on days I am really busy with a instant pack mix , this took about 5 minutes longer nad times a thousand times better. Thank you!

[hzrt8w]

That looks lovely! I am sorry I am putting some premix manufacturers out of business.

[OnigiriFB]

Since hrzt8w was nice enough to spell out how to upload an image to me I thought I'd upload a picture. I made this last thursday and have been loving my leftovers. Thanks Ah Leung

I can't wait to try some more recipes!

[stephenc]

I would ditch the hoisin sauce and replace it with more chili-bean sauce (do-ban) or hot oil/bean paste. But that's because I like my mapo tofu to be swimming in a pool of red.

Oh, I also like to use medium tofu and cut the tofu into smaller cubes, but that's just a style thing.

Edited December 8, 2005 by stephenc (log)

[hzrt8w]

[...] I made this last thursday and have been loving my leftovers.[...]

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Lovely! Thanks for sharing your picture, OnigiriFB.

Do you like firm tofu better? I like the silken soft tofu to increase the texture contrast between the minced meat and the tofu.

[torakris]

I just wanted to let you know that this is officially daughter Julia's favorite dish.

Yesterday for her birthday dinner (she turned 8) she requested "that mapo tofu just like you made last time....."

[OnigiriFB]

[...] I made this last thursday and have been loving my leftovers.[...]

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Lovely! Thanks for sharing your picture, OnigiriFB.

Do you like firm tofu better? I like the silken soft tofu to increase the texture contrast between the minced meat and the tofu.

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Oops... I must have missed this post or just plain spaced replying to you. Sorry! I like firm tofu since thats what I'm used to. I really wanted to try it with silken since thats what you had posted, but I couldn't find it at my local asian market wierdly enough. Next time I was thinking of trying a different asian market that caters to more korean/japanese food since I know they have it there. When I do I'll try to remember to post the differences and which style I think I prefer more.

[hzrt8w]

I just wanted to let you know that this is officially daughter Julia's favorite dish.

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That's my ultimate compliment, Kris. Thank you. Even better than my MIL saying "okay".

[alvis]

Hi hzrt8w, great thread

Being inspired, I made mapo tofu minus the meat today. Instead of vinegar, I added some ketchup to it for color and taste along with la tobanjiang and tobanjiang. It definitely hit the spot.

[hzrt8w]

[...]  Instead of vinegar, I added some ketchup to it for color and taste along with la tobanjiang and tobanjiang. It definitely hit the spot.

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Wow! Looks great! Why didn't I think of that?

[jhirshon]

Great thread - thought I'd add my recipe to it as well, which includes some finely diced Szechuan preserved vegetable for added flavour, among others.

cheers, JH

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The Hirshon Ma Po Dofu

1/2 pound ground beef

2 Tbsp soy sauce

Pinch of cornstarch

Pinch of 5 Spice

1 tablespoon Korean Kochujang or hot Szechuan bean paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon pureed or very finely minced ginger

1 Tbsp peanut oil

2 Tbsp. hot chili oil

2 Tbsp black beans, mashed to a paste after having been rinsed

3/4 pound dofu (firm preferred), chopped into small cubes

4-5 tien tsin peppers, sliced (or use fresh red fresno chiles)

2 Tbsp. finely chopped Szechuan Preserved Vegetable, previously washed

1 Tbsp chicken stock

1 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine (or use dry sherry)

1 teaspoon sweetened black vinegar (or balsamic, if unavailable)

1 teaspoon sesame oil (Kadoya brand preferred)

1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, lightly toasted and then ground

5 green onions, sliced thinly crosswise, white and light green part only

Take the beef and mix it with the soy sauce, cornstarch, and 5 Spice. Let sit at least 20 minutes (can refrigerate overnight). Heat wok to high heat. Add the peanut oil. When it shimmers, add the chili paste and garlic. Fry about 30 seconds until it releases its smell. Add the beef and cook thoroughly. Drop heat to medium and add the bean sauce, the peppers, and the tofu. Cook about 8 minutes until the tofu picks up some color. Add broth, wine, vinegar, ginger, garlic, preserved vegetable, chili oil, sesame oil and the ground peppercorns and then stir well. Adjust heat to taste with more chili oil, if desired. Add green onions. Serve over rice to absorb sauce, if desired.

Edited January 1, 2006 by jhirshon (log)

[I_call_the_duck]

I made this dish last night with a few variations. I used ground turkey instead of beef or pork, firm tofu since I had a senior moment when I was in the store and couldn't remember which kind I liked, and added shredded lettuce at the end. No pics, since my camera decided to misbehave last night.

My husband said it was the best meal ever. Since he's been saying that for the past few days, I took for face value. I'm very critical about my own cooking, always looking for improvements, and I liked this dish a lot.

Thanks again, Ah Leung for the pictorial.

[hzrt8w]

My husband said it was the best meal ever.  Since he's been saying that for the past few days, I took for face value.  I'm very critical about my own cooking, always looking for improvements, and I liked this dish a lot. 

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Thank you, Karen. You should have a few more good eat recipes "under your belly" to please your spouse.

[I_call_the_duck]

My husband said it was the best meal ever.  Since he's been saying that for the past few days, I took for face value.  I'm very critical about my own cooking, always looking for improvements, and I liked this dish a lot. 

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Thank you, Karen. You should have a few more good eat recipes "under your belly" to please your spouse.

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[Sencha]

I have really enjoyed this recipe for mapo tofu! I have prepared it about five times since you posted it! Thank you!

[eje]

Ah Leung,

Made your version for dinner tonight, and it turned out really well.

One of the tastiest meals we've had in a couple weeks.

Thanks!

-Erik

[hzrt8w]

Thank you for your kind words, Sencha and Erik. I recently made this dish again and this time with firm tofu instead of silken ones. The texture is sure different. I think I like it both ways. I would probably alternate in the future.

[prasantrin]

This may have already been asked, but my search turned up nothing.

Can mapodofu be frozen? Even just half a recipe will make much too much for me, so I was thinking of freezing leftovers in lunch-sized portions. But if that won't work, I'll have to quarter the recipe.

[hzrt8w]

[...]Can mapodofu be frozen? [...]

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I don't see why not. For the meat and sauces, definitely no problem. If you were to freeze tofu, you probably want to cook this dish with firm tofu which would stand the freezing process a bit better than the soft or silken tofu. The tofu texture would be changed just a little bit, but I don't think it's a big deal.

[prasantrin]

I don't see why not.  For the meat and sauces, definitely no problem.  If you were to freeze tofu, you probably want to cook this dish with firm tofu which would stand the freezing process a bit better than the soft or silken tofu.  The tofu texture would be changed just a little bit, but I don't think it's a big deal.

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Okey smokey! I'm going to use the mapodofu tofu, which is available here in Japan (or at least in my area of Japan). I think it might be an extra firm tofu, which would help with the freezing. Sunday will be my cooking day for the week!

[racheld]

This site---all of it, every page, every dish---always makes me feel like I've walked through the Dorothy-door into a beautiful realm of colors and flavors I'm just learning about.

Caro will make us mapo tofu tonight, after she awakes. She worked last night, is off for two days now, and it's snowing fast and furious. I'm glad she's home for more reasons than one, and this will be the perfect night for all the hot/sweet flavors. Just the scents as she cooks are wonderful.

Looking forward to more of your beautiful dishes (and to tonight's dinner, thanks to you!).

[blurby]

Well, I suppose this will be my first post

I'm planning on making a batch of this in the next couple of days. I have two questions first regarding the ingredients:

1. I could not find brown bean paste. I did find broad bean paste and when I asked the clerk he said they were the same thing. The only ingredients are "beans" and "salt" so it's a fairly simple product. Was the clerk right?

2. I could not find the ground szechwan pepper. I did find whole dried szechwan pepper however. Will this work if I just grind it up or do I need to toast it first?

Many thanks; this looks delicious!

[trillium]

Your broad bean paste will be just fine. I like making my ma po with just broad bean/chilli bean paste from Sichuan (do ban jian), even when I am making the Cantonese version, which is the style of recipe from hzrt8w. And I never add hoisin sauce, whether I'm making the original Sichuan or the Hunan or Cantonese variations. So you have a lot of flexibility.

If your Sichuan peppercorns have not already been toasted, then you should toast them first and then grind them, but only the amount you'll use. Using whole ones that you grind yourself will always be tastier.

good luck!

trillium