Easy Sichuan Mapo Tofu / Spicy Tofu
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Tofu has been a frequent ingredient on my dinner table this year as I am trying to cut down my meat intake. And let me tell you that turning a block of flavorless tofu into a tasty meal is not always an easy task.
As my quest for good tofu recipes goes on, my number one tofu dish is still the classic Sichuan Mapo Tofu 麻婆豆腐 – you know, that fiery and tongue-numbering tofu dish that’s almost synonymous the best Chinese tofu dish!
While cooking Mapo Tofu or a more generic Sichuan spicy tofu dish is pretty straightforward, one can never refuse an even quicker way of making tasty tofu dishes at home.
At least I couldn’t. That’s why when the generous distributor at Sino-American Quality Food (SAQF) came to me for a Sichuan seasoning sampling gig, I gladly signed up! And the next thing I knew, a box full of seasoning and sauces from ZHOU JUN JI (周君记) was waiting for me to try!
If you love hot pot, you might have already seen ZHOU JUN JI seasoning in action from this simple Sichuan hot pot recipe. The hot pot came out amazing and it took me only 30 minutes to prepare the broth.
With that said, let me share with you today how I can whip up a piping hot a Sichuan Spicy Tofu dish in no time with the help Spicy Mala Tofu Seasoning from ZHOU JUN JI!! This should be a good news to you busy professionals looking for quick and easy recipes!
Speaking of good news, one of the readers DB has kindly nominated this site as the best site for the Saveur Best Food Blog Awards! I’ll share a link on how to vote for your favorite food blog (hope that’s Yi Reservation) on March 31st when the poll opens 🙂
Each bag of Spicy Mala Tofu Seasoning includes three individually packaged seasoning. Each small package is good for 1lb (500g) of tofu.
There is a cooking instruction, in both English and Chinese, on the back of the bag.
In testing the tofu reasoning, I made myself a vegetarian Sichuan Spicy Tofu with shiitake mushroom in less than 25 minutes. If you can’t wait to see how I did it, just skip straight to the recipe. But read on if you also wonder how it tastes?
Let’s just keep it simple by saying that if you enjoy the mapo tofu from a good Sichuan restaurant, you’d love the taste of this tofu dish! It’s very aromatic and packed with tons of heat but not overly spicy at the same time. Overall I would recommend this seasoning to anyone who wants to make authentic Sichuan spicy tofu at home!
One last thing, compared to my homemade mapo tofu, the seasoning uses less of the tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorn so if you need to turn this spicy tofu dish into mapo tofu just add additional Sichuan peppercorn powder!
Disclaimer: The review below represents the opinion of Yi Reservation based on personal use and results. I do not receive any monetary compensation other than the free sample.
Easy Sichuan Mapo Tofu / Spicy Tofu
Yield: 4 sevings
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 12
Total Time: 22
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg soft tofu, about 1lb
- 1 pkg spicy tofu seasoning
- 1.5 cup stock or water
- 3 cups Hot salt water for soaking tofu
- 2 shiitake mushroom, reconstituted (optional)
- 1 tbsp corn starch, dissolved in 2 tbsp of water
- Chopped scallions for garnishing
Directions:
- Cut the tofu into 1” x 1” cubes
- Soak the tofu in hot salt water for 5 minutes in order to reduce the pungent soy taste. Remove the tofu using a mesh drainer and set aside
- Mince the reconstituted shiitake mushroom
- In a frying pan or wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add a pack of tofu seasoning and minced shiitake and stir fry until aromatic. About 2 minutes
- Add 1.5 cups of stock or water. Bring to boil
- Add the tofu cubes to the sauce and bring to boil again. Let simmer for about 5 minutes in low heat. Gently use a specula to splash sauce over the tofu. Thicken the sauce with cornstarch. Garnish with chopped scallions and serve hot
