Spicy, savoury, delicious mapo tofu Recipe that you get in the best restaurants.
Mapo tofu (AKA maps doufu) is the smell of home. It brings me back to the days I studied hotel management in Vancouver Community College.
The good old days when I was a poor student and eat out at the Tinseltown cafeteria. My go to meal was always hot bowl of steam rice with some spicy mapo tofu.
It was the perfect meal during late afternoons when it felt like cold dark nights in the winter of Vancouver. I still remember I was wearing a white and orange ski jacket with my fake Fendi side bag filled with homework and notebooks. Strange how some memories are so strong and vivid.
This authentic mapo tofu recipe is a replicate in most fast food Chinese restaurants.
How do I know? I used to work at one and chefs are always quick to tell you how things are done once they feel confident about you. The chef I met talked on and on about his secret about his version of an authentic mapo tofu. I double checked his version with my mom and it’s pretty similar.
My mom said the most important thing about mapo tofu recipe is using the right ingredients. It’s an easy recipe as long as you keep to the original Chinese ingredients you can typically find at Asian stores. I’ve attached links to the ingredients in the recipe below.
Vegetarian Mapo Tofu Recipe
This authentic mapo tofu recipe is super versatile. You can make it vegetarian, soupy or starchy, and you can control the spiciness of the dish as well.
The recipe is already gluten free so it’s great for people who are allergic to gluten or have dietary restrictions.
Why You Will Love this Mapo Tofu Recipe?
- Simple with Easy Instruction - there's a reason why mapo tofu is in most Chinese fast food restaurants - because it's easy. With only a few ingredients and some authentic bottles of sauces, you get the authentic taste.
- Reheat Friendly - The taste is still exceptional after sitting in the fridge. For days that requires me to get out the door quickly, I always reheat my mapo tofu in the microwave. Reheat mapo tofu always guarantee my belly full and happy, and still get me to go where I need to go.
- Authentic Cantonese home cooking - if you're looking for some authentic Cantonese home style cooking, mapo tofu is one of the unforgettable recipes. It just screams Cantonese mom cooking.
Pro Tips #1 - Don't Over Stir
Over stirring can easily break the tofu and turn something that looks like a cubed tofu stew into a pushy pile of … something. Even if the tofu is medium firm. Use a sloshed spoon and do slow gently stirs around the pot to stir. Never use a fork or something sharp to stir the pot.
Pro Tip #2 - Use silken or medium firm tofu
Silk tofu as a certain texture that is just so creamy but it comes with a cost – they break easily. Whatever tofu you want to us I would recommend it to be either soft or medium firm.
Pro Tip #3 - Doubanjiang is essential, don’t skip it!
This sauce is essential for the full umami flavour of this dish. There’s many different types out there including spicy or non spicy however, I would highly commend this brand.
Essential Ingredients
The following below are some recommended brands I use.
Doubanjiang
Dried Fermented Black Beans
Chinese Cooking Wine
Black Vinegar
Authentic Mapo Tofu: The Way My Mom Made It
Ingredients
SLURRY
- 1 TSP cornstarch
- ½ cup room temperature water
SAUCE
- 3 TBSP canola or vegetable oil
- 2-2.5 TBSP tablespoons doubanjiang link
- 1 TBSP dried fermented black bean link
- 2 TBSP garlic minced
- 1 TBSP favourite chili oil (optional)
- 1.5 TBSP soy sauce link
- 1 TBSP Chinese cooking wine link
- 2 TSP black vinegar link
- ½ TSP brown sugar
- 1 pound soft tofu 1 package
- 1 stalk of green onions chopped
- ½ TSP sesame oil link
Instructions
- Prepare your tofu by slicing them into small cubes - 3/4-inch cubes. Set aside.Â
- Prepare your slurry by mixing all the ingredients together. Set aside.Â
- I’m a hot wok or pan, add oil. Fry the doubanjiang, black beans, garlic and ginger together until fragrant - 3 minutes.
- Slowly add the chili oil, soy sauce, honest wine, black vinegar and sugar. Let it cook for another 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat to medium low and carefully add the tofu. Stir in the slurry and slowly with a spoon and try not to break the tofu.
- When the pan starts to bubble, turn the heat to low and put a lid on it and cook for 10 minutes.
- Serve with scallion on top and drizzle sesame oil on top. Serve with warm steamed rice.Â