9 have already made this dish!
The preparation:
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First, combine all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl (bean paste, mirin, miso, sesame oil, and to taste oyster sauce and soy sauce, cornstarch and water).
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Chop the scallions.
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Cut the tofu into small cubes.
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Mince the garlic and ginger.
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Now heat some oil in a pan and sauté the garlic and ginger - just don’t let them burn.
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Now add the minced meat - break it up with a spoon and fry until cooked through.
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Now add the seasoning sauce to the meat and mix well.
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When the sauce starts to simmer, add the tofu.
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Stir gently to avoid crushing the tofu too much.
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Sprinkle the scallions over the Mapo Tofu and you’re done!
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Serve the Mapo Tofu on a bed of rice. Enjoy!
Table of contents:
Tofu is only for vegetarians? Wrong! This delicious dish – Mapo Tofu – combines soft tofu, crispy fried minced meat, flavorful fermented beans and spicy Sichuan pepper. Mapo Tofu is best served on a donburi. Donburis are Japanese dishes served in a single bowl, typically consisting of a bed of fluffy rice and various toppings.
How exactly is Mapo Tofu prepared?
Mapo Tofu originally comes from China, but has been a standard part of the repertoire in many Japanese households for over 50 years. There are countless variations of the recipe, and almost every family prepares Mapo Tofu a little differently. But standard Mapo Tofu consists of
- Tofu
- Minced meat
- Doubanjiang (fermented bean paste with soybeans and broad beans, very important for the taste!)
- Miso
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Mirin
- Sugar
- Sesame oil
By the way: Mapo Tofu is a very quick recipe – you can prepare this delicious dish in less than 30 minutes and supplement it with some vegetables as you like. If you don't have rice at home, you can also serve Mapo Tofu with noodles.
Mapo Tofu – the express version
If you don't have ingredients like Miso and Doubanjiang at home, you can also use an instant sauce base for Mapo Tofu. You can find these in many Asian stores and also online. For the instant base, you only need tofu and minced meat.
Where can I get Mapo Tofu in Japan?
Mapo Tofu is so popular in Japan that you're guaranteed to find it on the menu at every Chinese restaurant. However, it's usually the "Japanized" tofu variant, which is definitely different from the original Chinese version! Japanese Mapo Tofu is less spicy than the Chinese, and a different version of Miso paste is used.
Comments
Ich koche bisher nur die chinesische Variante und verwende hierfür statt der Doubanjian Sauce vom selben Hersteller das Produkt "Spicy Bean Sauce (Ma Po Sauce)". Kann man die auch für die japanische Variante verwenden oder verfälscht das bereits den Geschmack zu sehr?