My Version of Mapo Tofu with Recipe!!! (マーボー豆腐)

I have been wanting to make Mapo Tofu ever since Cooking with Dog posted a video about it in 2010. I could never find all of the ingredients and made it a goal to one day make it no matter what (If you're curious, you need to mix tian miang jiang and doubanjiang, the two sauces that I could not find). A few weeks ago while I was grocery shopping at a local Wegmans, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye...



I began jumping with joy while my boyfriend stared at me...he should be used to this by now! I immediately put it in the car and decided to make it that very night. I am not usually a fan of "out of the box" sauces and prefer to make my own, but in this case it worked perfectly! I would just add in a few extra ingredients to make it more authentic! ^-^

A little etymology lesson: "Ma stands for "mazi" (Pinyin: mázi Traditional Chinese 麻子) which means a person disfigured by pockmarks or leprosy, the latter is also called 痲 má or 麻風 máfēng. Po (Chinese 婆) translates as "old woman, crone". Hence, Ma Po is an old woman whose face was pockmarked. It is thus sometimes translated as "Pockmarked-Face Lady's Tofu"."-Wikipedia

Here is what you will need:

 

-1 box Chinese mapo tofu sauce
-1 block firm tofu
-1 lb. ground beef
-Chopped green onions
-1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
-1 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
-1 Tbsp. soy sauce
-Chinese granulated chicken stock
-2 Tbsp. sake
-Steamed rice
-Sesame oil
-Potato Starch mixed with water for thickener (2 tsp. potato starch/1/3 tsp. water)

*I did not measure as a lot of it depends on taste and what you think the right amount should be.

First of all, prepare the ingredients: Chop the garlic and ginger, drain and cut the tofu into cubes, etc. Now begin to prepare the rice (I love my rice cooker! <3) You want the rice to be nice and hot when the mapo tofu is ready!



Heat up a pan on high heat, add in the sesame oil and coat the pan with it. When the oil is hot, add in the ground beef and break it up into small pieces while stirring continuously until fully cooked.



After the beef has been cooked thoroughly, add in the chopped garlic and ginger and reduce the heat to medium. Stir fry until aromatic. It smells so good!!! xD



Next, push all of the beef to one side and add in the mapo tofu sauce packet and reduce the heat to low in order to increase the flavor. Constantly stir to avoid burning at this point and stir until evenly browned.



Next add in the first Tbsp. of sake and continue to mix followed by the chinese chicken stock, soy sauce, and the remaining sake. Stir the mixture lightly.



Put in the tofu cubes and gently stir them in the pan and be very careful not to break them apart! Bring the mixture to a boil at high heat again and then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2-3 minutes. This reduces the tofu's moisture and allows the sauce to be absorbed by it!



Next add in the chopped green onions and stir very carefully until completely combined. Then lift the pan off the burner and mix in the potato starch by swirling the pan. Place the pan back onto the burner and using the wooden spatula, push the mixture using gentle motions to make sure that you do not break the tofu! Lastly, heat over high heat for about 30 seconds to thicken it and IT'S DONE!!! :D



First put some rice in a bowl and then add on the hot mapo tofu!



I recommend adding a little shichimi on top for a very tasty garnish.



I highly recommend this Chinese turned Japanese dish! It's it so fun to make and tastes amazing!!!