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Mapo Tofu - Tofu in Spicy Sauce with Minced Beef

Sichuan's best-known dish: silky tofu in a red, fiery sauce with just a little minced meat. The tofu is never stirred, only nudged, so the cubes stay whole.

Mapo Tofu - Tofu in Spicy Sauce with Minced Beef

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Cut the tofu into large cubes and steep for three minutes in lightly salted simmering water. This firms it and takes off the beany note.
  2. Fry the mince in the oil over high heat until crisp and the liquid has gone - it takes longer than you think.
  3. Lower the heat, add the chilli flakes and fry for 30 seconds until the oil turns red. Longer and they turn bitter.
  4. Add garlic and ginger, fry briefly, then pour in the soy sauce and water.
  5. Slide the tofu in carefully and simmer for two minutes. Do not stir - swirl the pan or nudge the tofu with the back of a spoon.
  6. Stir in the slaked starch and let it thicken for a minute until the sauce shines.
  7. Scatter with spring onions and serve at once with rice.

Warum der Tofu vorher ins Salzwasser kommt

The heat lets the protein network in the tofu set further, and the salt draws out a little water. Together they make the cubes stable enough to survive braising - without this step silken tofu falls apart in the pan.

What is actually in it? Up-Food calculates over 30 nutrients for this recipe from the real ingredient amounts – based on verified USDA data, not estimates.

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