Mapo tofu

Name: Mapo tofu
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 500 g soft or silken tofu, cut into 2cm cubes; 150 g minced pork (or beef); 2 tbsp doubanjiang (Pixian chilli bean paste: the essential ingredient); 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes (Sichuan or Korean gochugaru); 1 tbsp fermented black beans (douchi), roughly chopped; 3 garlic cloves, finely minced; 2 cm fresh ginger, finely minced; 2 tbsp neutral oil (such as vegetable or rapeseed); 300 ml chicken stock or water; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp sugar; 1.5 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tbsp cold water (for thickening); 1 tsp toasted Sichuan peppercorns, ground (the numbing element); 2 stalks spring onions, sliced, to finish; 1 tsp sesame oil

Sichuan's incendiary tofu: silken bean curd in a volcanic sauce of doubanjiang and Sichuan pepper

Origin: China (Sichuan province)

From the journey of Soy.

Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐, 'pockmarked old woman's tofu', named according to legend after a 19th-century Chengdu restaurant owner) is the most famous dish of Sichuan cuisine and one of the most perfectly calibrated preparations in Chinese cooking. Its power lies in the combination of má (麻, the numbing tingle of Sichuan pepper) and là (辣, the heat of chilli), the sensation known as málà that defines Sichuan cooking and that was not possible before the chilli arrived in the region around 1600 CE. The chilli reached Sichuan via both the Portuguese route from Goa and through the Manila Galleon trade that connected Mexico to the Philippines and then to China's coastal trading networks. The Sichuan kitchen adopted it with a specificity and rigour that produced one of the world's great chilli-integrated cuisines. In mapo tofu, the chilli appears in doubanjiang (Pixian chilli bean paste) (a two-year fermented paste of chillies and broad beans that is the essential condiment of Sichuan cooking) and as dried chilli flakes that go in alongside ground pork, fermented black beans, and the final devastating addition of Sichuan pepper. The result is a dish of extraordinary complexity: the silken tofu yielding against the lip-numbing sauce, the pork adding richness, the garlic and ginger providing base. It is simultaneously simple in ingredients and profound in effect.

Ingredients

Tofu

500 g soft or silken tofu, cut into 2cm cubes

Protein

150 g minced pork (or beef)

Chilli paste

2 tbsp doubanjiang (Pixian chilli bean paste: the essential ingredient)

Chilli

1 tbsp dried chilli flakes (Sichuan or Korean gochugaru)

Ferment

1 tbsp fermented black beans (douchi), roughly chopped

Aromatics

3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 cm fresh ginger, finely minced

Fat

2 tbsp neutral oil (such as vegetable or rapeseed)

Liquid

300 ml chicken stock or water

Seasoning

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Thickening

1.5 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tbsp cold water (for thickening)

Sichuan pepper

1 tsp toasted Sichuan peppercorns, ground (the numbing element)

Finish

2 stalks spring onions, sliced, to finish
1 tsp sesame oil

Method

Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Gently add the tofu cubes with 1 tsp salt. Simmer for 2 minutes. This firms the tofu slightly and removes the raw soy smell. Drain gently and set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until just smoking. Add the minced pork. Cook, breaking it up, until browned and fragrant.
Reduce heat to medium. Add the doubanjiang. Stir-fry for 2 minutes: the oil should turn a vivid red-orange from the chilli paste.
Add the black beans, garlic, ginger, and chilli flakes. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
Pour in the chicken stock. Add soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
Gently slide in the blanched tofu. Simmer for 5 minutes: do not stir aggressively or the tofu will break. Instead, gently agitate the wok.
Add the cornflour slurry and stir gently until the sauce thickens and coats the tofu.
Drizzle with sesame oil. Scatter with spring onion. Finish with the ground Sichuan peppercorns.

Notes

Doubanjiang is available in Chinese supermarkets, look specifically for 'Pixian doubanjiang' (郫县豆瓣酱) which is the type used in authentic Sichuan cooking. If unavailable, Korean gochujang is an acceptable substitute but will produce a sweeter, milder result. The tofu should be silken or soft, firm tofu is too dense and fails to absorb the sauce. Mapo tofu is one of those dishes that can only be made immediately before eating: it does not hold or reheat gracefully.

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control