Mapo Tofu


Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free

Meal Type
Dinner
Cuisine
Chinese
Author
Jessica Lord
Serves
4
Preparation Time
5 minutes
Cooking Time
30 minutes

Ingredients

SAUCE

  • 3 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
  • 1 Tbsp minced Ginger (1 inch)
  • 2 Tbsp Mirin
  • 1 Tbsp Miso paste (shiro / awase)
  • 1 Tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce or ( 1tsp marmite)
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp oil (rice bran)
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp doubanjiang (chili bean sauce) OR 1 Tbsp Korean red chilli paste + peppercorns...

BASE

  • 2 cups sliced green onions, scallions
  • 1 cup TVP mince or (vegie delights - nutmeat, or brown lentils)
  • 900g regular tofu, momen

OPTIONAL

  • red chili flakes / oil / fresh chili
  • 2 Tbsp corn flour / tapioca flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp vegetarian beef stock powder
  • 1 Tbsp peanut oil
  • 1 Tbsp sichuan red peppercorns, toasted and ground.

Instructions

  1. (If using peppercorns, brown to toast in a small pan and then cool and blitz in the blender before proceeding... it saves on cleaning). Combine sauce ingredients in a blender cup and puree.
  2. In a heavy bottomed pot or fry pan add the sauce, refill blender cup with water, shake and add rinse water to pot to thin sauce.
  3. Add TVP to sauce mixture, stir well and cook on medium heat.
  4. Drain Tofu and cut into cubes or transfer in large chunks to the pot.
  5. Using a spatula or spoon break up tofu into irregular bite sized pieces and gently stir into the sauce to coat.
  6. depending on how much water is used you can choose to simmer and reduce liquid volume or add one tablespoon of a thickening starch to two tablespoons of cold water mix, add to pot and stir to thicken.
  7. Stir in fresh or frozen sliced green onions before serving over boiled white rice.

Notes

  • Enjoy a generous 2 cup serving topped with sliced green onions for only 327 calories, or add rice or starch of your choice.
  • Mapo Tofu is a notoriously spicy dish, originally involving ground pork mince, oyster sauce and plenty of hot spices.
  • This Vegan version is a milder sauce base which is very versatile but complete flavour, suitable for pretty much anybody whether they like spicy food or not.
  • Adding vegetarian stock (as most stock cubes are) helps to deepen the flavour and distract picky carnivores from the tofu.
  • Adding extra heat for fire breathers is easy with a few dried chili flakes early on to let the flavours really infuse during cooking.
  • If you are expecting a table of mixed palated guests, feel free to cheekily place a pump bottle of chili oil or shichimi flakes on the table for those you want to doctor their own dinners.
  • Recent experiment using half a can of nutmeat (wheat gluten + peanuts) yeilded spectacular results, I suggest trying it if you are not Celiac, or allergic to nuts... If you can't find it, I suggest blending the sauce contents, rehydrating the tvp through a sieve and then frying with a little peanut oil before adding other ingredients. If you can get nutmeat, you will need to break up the dense mass with a fork or better yet; food processor. Try it in a work until fragrant and proceed with sauce et cetera.
  • Vegetarian oyster sauce can be difficult to find, it also went moldy in my pantry... Scoby fascination aside, I decided to taste the sauce and was distinctly reminded of marmite, not Vegemite. Just a suggestion.
  • I usually use the Korean fermented chilli paste and peppercorn combination as it is slightly more authentic and it is more pepper warmth than chilli heat.