Vegan Mapo Tofu
Soft tofu and finely chopped mushrooms in a fiery, numbing Sichuan-style bean-chilli sauce — silky, savoury, and made for steamed rice.
Cuisine: Chinese (Sichuan, China) · Style: Curry · Protein: Tofu · Total time: · Difficulty: medium · Servings: 4 · Spice: 5/5
Ingredients
- 400g soft tofu, cubed
- 150g shiitake mushrooms, minced
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang (chilli bean paste)
- 1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns, plus more to finish
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1.5 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
Steps
- Warm tofu cubes gently in salted water for 3 minutes, then drain carefully. Mix cornflour with 3 tbsp cold water.
- Fry Sichuan pepper, ginger, garlic, mushrooms, black beans, and doubanjiang in oil until aromatic. Add stock and soy, then bring to a simmer.
- Slide in tofu and shake the pan rather than stirring hard. Drizzle in slurry until the sauce clings, then finish with spring onion and more Sichuan pepper.