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.
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Vegan Mapo Tofu Recipe: Spicy Comfort Food
Course: Dinner, Recipes, TofuCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium4
servings15
minutes20
minutesA vegan version of a Szechuan classic! An approachable way of making this flavorful and comforting classic for the cold winter months.
Ingredients
soft/firm tofu (silken is too runny)
shiitake mushrooms (chopped)
garlic (diced)
ginger (minced)
green onion (garnish)
sliced water chestnuts (optional)
- The Sauce
grapeseed oil
Szechuan peppercorn (1.5 is what I prefer – grind it up)
dried mini red chili peppers
Chinese black bean sauce
vegetable broth
corn starch (mixed with water to create a thick paste)
fermented black beans
mapo tofu sauce, optional
chili oil
sesame oil
white sugar
Directions
- 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.
Recipe Video
Notes
- If you only have or extra firm tofu, that’s okay! Just drain it and break it apart with your hands.
- Want it spicier? Add more peppercorns.
- Need to thicken your sauce? Add more cornstarch-water mixture.
- Is your sauce too thick? Add more vegetable broth to it.
- You can 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!
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The sauce is killer here, thank you for posting this awesome recipe!
You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
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!
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