Fuchsia Dunlop’s quick mapo tofu recipe from Chengdu

Fuchsia Dunlop presents a mapo tofu recipe she describes as a Chengdu favourite, typical of the “spicy generosity” of Sichuan food, though she says it’s perhaps better not translated as “pock-marked old woman’s tofu”. She notes the dish pairs creamy tofu with intensely savoury, tingly seasoning and is ready in mere minutes (prep 10 min, cook 7 min).

The recipe calls for plain tofu (250g), cornflour or other starch, Sichuan peppercorns, neutral oil, a small amount of minced pork, beef or a plant-based alternative, Sichuan chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), fermented black beans, chilli flakes, garlic, fresh root ginger, spring onions, salt and 85ml water.

A cornflour paste is made by mixing the starch with cold water. Vegetables are prepped first: finely chopped garlic, grated ginger and spring onions kept separate into white and green parts. The tofu is cut into roughly 2½cm chunks and briefly blanched in salted boiling water while half the peppercorns are toasted and ground.

The remaining peppercorns flavour smoking oil, which is then used to brown the mince. Aromatics are fried, the bean paste, black beans and chilli added, then water and the cornflour paste; the blanched tofu and fried mince are folded in and the sauce cooked until it thickens. The dish is finished with the reserved ground pepper and spring onion greens.

Key Topics

Culture, Mapo Tofu, Chengdu, Fuchsia Dunlop, Sichuan Peppercorns, Doubanjiang