Chinese Mapo Tofu (1-CLICK RECIPE)

A popular Chinese dish originating from the Sichuan province, Mapo Tofu is a rich and aromatic sauce filled with minced meat and tender pieces of tofu. Mapo Tofu is well known for being hot on the plate, aromatic, spicy but most notably for it’s mouth numbing effect which it gets from the key ingredient sichuan peppers. Sichuan peppers are not to be confused with chilli peppers or even white/black peppercorns, they are in fact ‘berries’ which comes from a ash shrub plant in the Sichuan province of China. Along with the chilli oil used in the recipe, sichuan peppers infuse heat into the mapo tofu dish but the special thing about the sichuan peppers is that they also create a numbing effect in your mouth which actually helps you enjoy the spicy flavours.

Another key ingredient in Mapo Tofu is doubanjiang paste which is a reddish-brown Chinese savoury fermented bean paste (made with ingredients such as soybeans, broad beans, chilli peppers and more). This also originates from Sichuan cuisine and is another spicy ingredient which adds heat to Mapo Tofu but because its fermented doubanjiang also adds salty, earthy and umami flavours to the dish too.

The great thing about Mapo Tofu is that it’s deceptively easier to prepare than the ordinary person would believe. In fact, the hardest part about cooking this dish is using the best Chinese ingredients. Some of which call to be home-made, such as the chilli oil. However, when you’ve got the right ingredients, the instructions are easy to follow and preparation is far from challenging.