Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Recipe ⬇️ or PRINT: recipetineats.com/mapo-tofu
I can’t even begin to tell you how deliriously happy I am to be sharing this!! It’s a recipe for Mapo Tofu that is everything a great, authentic Mapo Tofu should be - fiery, deeply savoury, unapologetically bold and so incredibly delicious, I almost wept with happiness.
IT’S NOT MY RECIPE - I tried for 20 years to crack the code, but it was always missing “something”. This recipe is by our RecipeTin Meals Chef Xiao (Hannah) Huang, who was born and raised in Sichuan and comes from a multi-generational family of chefs. So she knows a thing or two about Mapo Tofu!
It’s one of those foods that’s impossible to forget once you’ve had a really good one which I first tried in China in my early twenties. Since then, I’ve ordered it time and time again here in Sydney and it always falls short. Lacks the flavour punch or doesn’t have the same depth of flavour.
THANK YOU FOR THE RECIPE HANNAH! Eternally grateful I can get my Mapo Tofu fix without popping over to China! 😅
For those new to Mapo Tofu, it is probably the most famous Sichuan dish, made with silken tofu gently braised in a fiery, savoury sauce flavoured with chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), Sichuan pepper, minced pork or beef, and aromatics. It's known for its signature málà flavour - a combination of the tongue-tingling numbing sensation (má) from Sichuan peppercorn and spicy heat from chilli powder (là).
Once you gather the ingredients - and this does call for a trip to the Asian store for 3 things (Sichuan peppercorns, broad bean sauce and salted black beans that will set you back around $10 in total - you can get everything else at grocery stores) the making part is straightforward.
Hope you love it! - Nagi x
——————
Mapo Tofu
1 tbsp whole pink Sichuan peppercorns (or green) – for 1 tsp powder
BLANCHED TOFU:
600g/ 21 oz silken tofu, cut into 1.5cm / 0.6″ squares
2 1/2 cups water +1 tsp cooking salt / kosher + 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
PORK:
1 tbsp canola oil, or other plain oil like veg, peanut
100g/ 3.5 oz pork mince (ground pork), or beef
1 tsp light soy sauce (or regular soy)
MAPO TOFU:
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp garlic + 2 1/2 tbsp ginger, finely minced with a knife
1 tbsp salted black beans*, finely chopped
1 tbsp broad bean sauce/paste^ (doubanjiang), we use Pixian
1 tsp light soy sauce (or regular soy)
2 tsp chilli powder, pure – NOT US chili powder blend – or 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika + 1 tsp white sugar
1 green onion stem, finely sliced
3/4 cup beef stock/broth, low sodium
1 tsp sesame oil
CORNFLOUR SLURRY – Mix 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch + 1/4 cup water
1. Toast peppercorns 2 min in small dry skillet, cool slightly then grind in mortar and pestle or spice grinder, then sift. You need 1 tsp powder.
2. Simmer tofu in the salt + water + soy for 3 min, remove with slotted spoon (seasons and removes raw bean curd flavour).
3. Pork – heat oil in wok on high, cook pork until no longer pink, reduce to medium and cook 2 min until golden. Stir in soy, then remove.
4. Mapo tofu – Heat oil on LOW. Sauté garlic and ginger 90 sec, then black bean and bean sauce 3 min, then chilli and paprika 30 sec. Add beef stock and soy, increase to medium, add tofu then simmer 10 min (stir gently with rubber spatula every now and then). Add sugar, pork, 1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper, then thicken sauce with cornflour slurry. Stir in green onion and sesame, pour into bowl, garnish with 1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper (don’t skip this!). Serve over rice.
* Also called fermented black beans (they’re actually soy beans), same black beans used for Beef in Black Bean Sauce! Find in Asian stores in pickled veg aisle, $2.60 for smallest packs. Adds umami and salt. No sub!
^ Red fermented paste made from broad beans. Key sauce flavour, adds savouriness and salt, no sub! We use the spicy Sichuan version (Pixian doubanjiang) which is a well known brand.
#sichuanfood #mapotofu
Recipe ⬇️ or PRINT: recipetineats.com/mapo-tofu
I can’t even begin to tell you how deliriously happy I am to be sharing this!! It’s a recipe for Mapo Tofu that is everything a great, authentic Mapo Tofu should be - fiery, deeply savoury, unapologetically bold and so incredibly delicious, I almost wept with happiness.
IT’S NOT MY RECIPE - I tried for 20 years to crack the code, but it was always missing “something”. This recipe is by our RecipeTin Meals Chef Xiao (Hannah) Huang, who was born and raised in Sichuan and comes from a multi-generational family of chefs. So she knows a thing or two about Mapo Tofu!
It’s one of those foods that’s impossible to forget once you’ve had a really good one which I first tried in China in my early twenties. Since then, I’ve ordered it time and time again here in Sydney and it always falls short. Lacks the flavour punch or doesn’t have the same depth of flavour.
THANK YOU FOR THE RECIPE HANNAH! Eternally grateful I can get my Mapo Tofu fix without popping over to China! 😅
For those new to Mapo Tofu, it is probably the most famous Sichuan dish, made with silken tofu gently braised in a fiery, savoury sauce flavoured with chilli bean paste (doubanjiang), Sichuan pepper, minced pork or beef, and aromatics. It's known for its signature málà flavour - a combination of the tongue-tingling numbing sensation (má) from Sichuan peppercorn and spicy heat from chilli powder (là).
Once you gather the ingredients - and this does call for a trip to the Asian store for 3 things (Sichuan peppercorns, broad bean sauce and salted black beans that will set you back around $10 in total - you can get everything else at grocery stores) the making part is straightforward.
Hope you love it! - Nagi x
——————
Mapo Tofu
1 tbsp whole pink Sichuan peppercorns (or green) – for 1 tsp powder
BLANCHED TOFU:
600g/ 21 oz silken tofu, cut into 1.5cm / 0.6″ squares
2 1/2 cups water +1 tsp cooking salt / kosher + 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
PORK:
1 tbsp canola oil, or other plain oil like veg, peanut
100g/ 3.5 oz pork mince (ground pork), or beef
1 tsp light soy sauce (or regular soy)
MAPO TOFU:
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp garlic + 2 1/2 tbsp ginger, finely minced with a knife
1 tbsp salted black beans*, finely chopped
1 tbsp broad bean sauce/paste^ (doubanjiang), we use Pixian
1 tsp light soy sauce (or regular soy)
2 tsp chilli powder, pure – NOT US chili powder blend – or 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika + 1 tsp white sugar
1 green onion stem, finely sliced
3/4 cup beef stock/broth, low sodium
1 tsp sesame oil
CORNFLOUR SLURRY – Mix 2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch + 1/4 cup water
1. Toast peppercorns 2 min in small dry skillet, cool slightly then grind in mortar and pestle or spice grinder, then sift. You need 1 tsp powder.
2. Simmer tofu in the salt + water + soy for 3 min, remove with slotted spoon (seasons and removes raw bean curd flavour).
3. Pork – heat oil in wok on high, cook pork until no longer pink, reduce to medium and cook 2 min until golden. Stir in soy, then remove.
4. Mapo tofu – Heat oil on LOW. Sauté garlic and ginger 90 sec, then black bean and bean sauce 3 min, then chilli and paprika 30 sec. Add beef stock and soy, increase to medium, add tofu then simmer 10 min (stir gently with rubber spatula every now and then). Add sugar, pork, 1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper, then thicken sauce with cornflour slurry. Stir in green onion and sesame, pour into bowl, garnish with 1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper (don’t skip this!). Serve over rice.
* Also called fermented black beans (they’re actually soy beans), same black beans used for Beef in Black Bean Sauce! Find in Asian stores in pickled veg aisle, $2.60 for smallest packs. Adds umami and salt. No sub!
^ Red fermented paste made from broad beans. Key sauce flavour, adds savouriness and salt, no sub! We use the spicy Sichuan version (Pixian doubanjiang) which is a well known brand.
#sichuanfood #mapotofu
