Description
Traditional Chinese comfort food Mapo Tofu made easy. This gluten-free dish is made with 5-min homemade hot chili oil and pepper solids and simmered in beef broth or a hearty homemade bone broth.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 (16-ounce) block of soft tofu
- 4 ounces of ground beef or ground pork
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or dried Sherry
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth (I used homemade beef bone broth)
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 1 1/2 tablespoons hot chili oil with pepper solids
- 1/2 teaspoon finely ground Sichuan pepper (aka numbing pepper)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water
- Salt and pepper to taste (preferably finely ground Sichuan numbing pepper)
- Chopped green onion for garnish
Instructions
- Cut tofu into half-inch cubes.
- In a medium saucepan, bring a large amount of salted water to a boil and gently place the tofu into the boiling water. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Drain.
- Combine ground beef or pork, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Mix well.
- In a large wok or sauté pan or wok, heat up 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat for about 1 minute. Brown the seasoned meat in oil, breaking it into small pieces with your spatula, for about 4-5 minutes. Transfer the meat to the same bowl that you use to season the meat and set aside.
- Add the rest of the sesame oil to the same wok. Keep the medium heat. Add ginger and garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Pour broth into the wok, followed by coconut aminos. Turn the heat up to high and bring the broth to a boil.
- Add tofu cubes, beef, hot chili oil with pepper solids, and Sichuan pepper into the broth. Shake the wok to distribute the sauce, using a wooden spatula to back-push the tofu gently. Turn down the heat to simmer for 6-8 minutes.
- In the meantime, dissolve 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of cold water.
- Drizzle the cornstarch mixture into the tofu mixture. Back push it slowly, and continue simmering the tofu in the sauce until it’s thickened, about 2 minutes. Taste and add more salt if desired.
- Dish, sprinkle with finely ground Sichuan numbing pepper or ground black pepper, garnish with chopped green onion, and serve over rice.
Notes
- Boiling tofu in salted water will make the tofu strong and not easy to break.
- Browning meat over medium heat allows the meat to be broken into smaller pieces, which is preferred in this dish. If you use high heat, the meat will easily turn into bigger chunks.
- If you don’t have Sichuan numbing pepper, you can still make this recipe with ground black pepper. But the result is going to be less ideal.
- For finely ground Sichuan numbing pepper, toast the peppercorns over medium heat until fragrant, then process them in a food processor. You may also use 1 tablespoon of whole numbing peppercorns.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 639
- Sugar: 3.5g
- Sodium: 891.2mg
- Fat: 53.7g
- Carbohydrates: 14.2g
- Protein: 28.4g
- Cholesterol: 40.3mg
