Skip to main content
Epicurious
Gourmet

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

By Eileen Wen Mooney

4.6

(13)

Cubes of tofu and pork with scallions in a bowl of mapo sauce.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Prop Styling by Anne Eastman, Food Styling by Lillian Chou

Mapo tofu is a specialty of China’s Sichuan province, and a paragon of the region’s famed ma la, or numbing and spicy, flavor. The complex flavor of this Chinese dish comes from three key ingredients: Sichuan chili flakes, umami-rich doubanjiang (a fermented chile–broad bean paste), and citrusy, tingling, mildly mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns (the berry of a prickly ash tree). Together, these ingredients bring a complex burn to the stew-like mapo tofu, which combines ground pork, douchi (fermented black beans), soy sauce, chicken stock, and cubes of creamy soft tofu for a quick-cooking wok meal. Thickened with cornstarch and garnished with green onions and ground Sichuan pepper, mapo tofu is best served over steamed white rice, with a refreshing, cooling beverage alongside.

We tested this mapo tofu recipe with several brands of fermented bean and chili paste, each varying in flavor and texture. Anything labeled “toban jiang” or “doubanjiang” will work, but it’s worth seeking out jars labeled Pixian or Chengdu for this icon of Sichuan cuisine.

Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the July 2008 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared on Epicurious in August 2008.

What you’ll need

See Related Recipes and Cooking Tips

Read More
Stir-Fried Phở Noodles With Beef
This dish is not only a quick meal option but also a practical way to use leftover phở noodles when you’re out of broth.
Kung Pao Cabbage With Tofu
Reliable cabbage is cooked in the punchy sauce and then combined with store-bought baked tofu and roasted cashews for a salad that can also be eaten with rice.
Crispy Tofu With Scallion-Ginger Sauce
The tofu is crunchy on the outside, in part thanks to a panko-studded exterior, and squishy-in-a-good-way on the inside. It also comes together in 20 minutes.
Pork Dinakdakan
Braise tender pork belly in soy and vinegar, then grill with shishito peppers and toss with ginger and a tangy dressing for bold, savory Filipino dinakdakan.
Moo Ping (Thai Grilled Pork Skewers)
This version of pork skewers is made in the oven, which tastes just as good, but you could always throw these on the grill for a version closer to the original.
Crispy Oyster Mushroom Skewers With Bok Choy Salad
Oyster mushrooms are a strong all-rounder in the kitchen, seeming to straddle both plant and meat worlds in what they look and taste like when cooked. Here they’re coated in a marinade my mother used to use when cooking Chinese food at home—honey, soy, garlic and ginger—and roasted until golden, crisp, and juicy.
Fufu
Fufu is a dish that has been passed down through many generations and is seen as a symbol of Ghanaian identity and heritage. Making fufu traditionally is a very laborious task; this recipe mimics some of that hard work but with a few home-cook hacks that make for a far easier time.
Zaru Soba (Cold Buckwheat Noodles)
Cool off with this easy zaru soba recipe: a Japanese dish of chewy buckwheat noodles served with chilled mentsuyu dipping sauce, daikon, nori, and scallions.