Mapo Tofu

Toast the Chilies

Notes: First, we toast the chilies. If you have homemade toasted chili oil, you can skip this step.

Ingredients

½ cup oil (divided)

1-2 fresh Thai bird chili peppers (thinly sliced)

6-8 dried red chilies (roughly chopped)

Instructions

Heat your wok or a small saucepan over low heat.

Add half of the oil and throw in the fresh and dried peppers.

Stir occasionally and heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes, ensuring that the peppers don’t burn.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Fry Aromatics and Pork

Notes: Previously, we included a step of adding the ground Sichuan peppercorns at this step to infuse the oil. However, it resulted in mixed bag results for some folks, as it is easy to accidentally burn the ground peppercorns. We now recommend adding it after you add the pork. (Note, you can use Sichuan peppercorn oil as a shortcut to this step.)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons ginger (finely minced)

3 tablespoons garlic (finely minced)

8 ounces ground pork

1/2- 1 1/2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns (powdered or finely ground, reserving 1/4 teaspoon for garnish at the end; if you want a milder flavor use 1/2 or 1 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn)

Instructions

Heat the remaining half of the oil in your wok over medium heat.

Add the ginger. After 1 minute, add the garlic.

Fry for another minute, and then turn up the heat to high and add the ground pork.

Break up the meat and fry it until it’s cooked through.

Add your ground Sichuan peppercorns and stir for about 15-30 seconds, taking care to not let it burn, as it will turn bitter if it does.

Simmer

Add Tofu, Chili Oil and Scallions

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

1/4 teaspoon sugar (optional)

1 scallion (finely chopped)

Instructions

Then add your chili oil from before—peppers and all! If you are using homemade chili oil, ONLY use the standing oil, as it's likely that you have salted it and you only want the oil, not additional salt.

Stir the oil into the sauce, and add the tofu.

Use your spatula to gently toss the tofu in the sauce.

Let everything cook for 3-5 minutes.

Add the sesame oil and sugar (if using) along with the scallions and stir until the scallions are just wilted.

Serve with a last sprinkle of Sichuan peppercorn powder as a garnish if desired.