Maapo Tofu

Maapo tofu is a chinese recipe that is also munched in Japan. The first times I ate this dish was from one of those packs where you just have to mix it water (hehe). Five years ago I made one of those packs for some Dutch friends and they said it was good but it would be even better without tofu. BLASPHEMY! Maapo tofu is essentially a tofu dish so you need/should to incorporate tofu. Of course you can skip the tofu part but it's like serving a quesadilla without cheese or a hamburger without a burger or spaghetti alle vongole without vongole… Anyways, you get my point ;)

Since Japanese food is very very expensive in Europe, I decided to make it from scratch. I looked for the recipe online and since I am rather lazy, I decided to simplify this dish. I skipped various ingredients (like fermented black beans, Sichuan peppercorns etc) that you need for a more authentic maapo tofu.

Pork Maapo Tofu

Ingredients (for approximately for 4 big nomsters):

• 3 teaspoon of chicken stock diluted into 500ml of water
• 3 teaspoon potato starch (to thicken the sauce)
• 4 teaspoon soya sauce
• 3 teaspoon sugar
• a drizzle of sesame oil
• 3 cloves of garlic or 4 teaspoon of mashed garlic
• 4 teaspoon of minced ginger
• 8 green onions (white parts and green parts)
• Doubanjiang (chili bean paste; you can easily find it in asian supermarkets)
• 400 g of minced beef (you can also use minced pork)
• 500 g of silken tofu

Preparation:

• In a bowl, mix the chicken stock, potato starch, soya sauce and sugar. 
• In a deep frying pan or a pot, add a drizzle of sesame oil and add the garlic, ginger and white parts of the spring onion on medium heat. When it's cooked add the minced meat (I made this dish with minced pork one time and I think minced beef matches the sauce better. You can also combine minced beef and pork together!). Try to make sure to break the clumps of meat with the spatula :)
• While the meat is cooking, drain the tofu and cut it into cubes (the size of the cube is up to you :))
• When the meat is cooked, add the doubanjiang. I did not put a specific amount in the recipe because I always just randomly add the paste. I just keep adding until the meat is evenly covered and becomes red-ish.
• Incorporate the tofu and toss or mix gently to cover with the sauce. Be careful not to break the tofu cubes. 
• Mix the sauce that you kept on the side one last time before adding it to the pot. When mixing, make sure again not to break the tofu!
• Let it boil and when the sauce thickens, it's ready! Serve with hot rice and sprinkle the green part of the green onion as decoration. 

Beef Maapo Tofu

Spicy but yummy!

I made this recipe in the Netherlands and London and realized that even though the doubanjiang jar I bought was from the exact same brand (but bought in different countries), one was spicier than the other! The one from the asian store in London was much spicier than the Dutch one! I was quite surprised since it was the same brand and all. In any case, the maapo tofu I made in London turned out much spicier than in Holland and everyone had a runny nose after dinner ;) So I would say the quantity for the doubanjiang is really up to how spicy you like the food and how spicy the paste actually is :)

Enjoy!