Vegan Recipe
One of my favorite Chinese dishes to eat is vegan Mapo Tofu. I love the tongue-numbing features of the Szechuan peppercorns, the depth of chili flavors in the sauce, and the texture of the tofu that perfectly absorbs the sultry sauce. There are only a few restaurants I have been to that do a vegan Mapo Tofu excellently. I have been disappointed with most so I set out to make one of my favorite Chinese dishes from the Szechuan province. You can make this as mild or as spicy as you prefer! I hope you enjoy making my vegan Mapo Tofu recipe.
If you try one of my recipes, I would love if you could tag it on Instagram or FB @chivegfood!
Vegan Mapo Tofu Recipe
A vegan version of a Szechuan classic! An approachable way of making this flavorful and comforting classic for the cold winter months.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 lb soft/firm tofu (silken is too runny)
- 1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (diced)
- 1 tbsp ginger (minced)
- 2 sprigs green onion (garnish)
- 1 container sliced water chestnuts (optional)
The Sauce
- 4 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1-2 tbsp Szechuan peppercorn (1.5 is what I prefer - grind it up)
- 6 pieces dried mini red chili peppers
- 3 tbsp Chinese black bean sauce
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp corn starch (mixed with water to create a thick paste)
- 2.5 tbsp fermented black beans
- 2 tsp chili oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp white sugar
Instructions
Prep
- Chop up your tofu into 1-inch squares. Soak the tofu in hot water for about 15 minutes and then drain it. You don't need to fry it but if you do, drizzle some tamari/soy sauce on it.
- Chop your dried mini chili peppers and pan fry in a small pan with 1 tsp of grapeseed oil for about 2-3 minutes.
Sauce
- Chop your vegetables and heat up half of the oil (2 tbsp) in the wok on medium heat.
- Add your chopped shiitake mushrooms, ginger, and garlic, then add the ground up peppercorn.
- Stir in the black bean sauce, then add your vegetable broth and let it simmer for about 2 minutes.
- Then add your corn starch- water mixture and simmer while the sauce thickens for about 2 minutes.
- Now you can add your chili peppers with the oil, chili oil, black beans, water chestnuts and tofu. Simmer until the flavors blend together for 4 minutes.
- Then add the sugar to take out any bitterness.
- Turn off the heat and drizzle with sesame oil, peppercorn sprinkled on top, and chili oil. Garnish with green onions and your mapo tofu is ready.
- It goes wonderfully with jasmine rice but you can also eat it with noodles.
Notes:
- For more tongue-numbing, add more Szechuan peppercorn.
- The tofu in Mapo Tofu is traditionally fried separately, but I like to sauté mine separately to add a bit more flavor.
- You cane easily find these ingredients at an Asian Grocer like H-Mart or Amazon (see my storefront page).
Hungry for more? Check out my Asian Tofu Recipe : Perfect for a Tasty Stirfry!
The sauce is killer here, thank you for posting this awesome recipe!
You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
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I cannot say enough about this recipe! I am by no means a cook, which is frustrating, because I don’t eat meat, and my husband does. I saw this recipe posted on FB, and decided to try it out.
I made two rookie mistakes (both of which were completely my fault), and added too much corn starch, which made it a bit sticky. I also put it over rice noodles, which I didn’t soak first, so they were sticky as well. Next time I will probably use more stock and slightly less corn starch.
Back to the recipe, though, I can’t believe how delicious and comforting it was! My husband said it ate like a hearty meat dish, and he found it to be absolutely delicious. Suffice it to say that I will definitely be checking out more of these tofu recipes!
Hi Andrea, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment here! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I haven’t tried these over rice noodles before, but that’s a great idea!