Vegan Mapo Tofu: Easy Recipe! - The Woks of Life (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between Chinese and Korean mapo tofu? ›

Chinese mapo tofu is made with a soybean paste called doubanjiang. In Korean mapo tofu, this doubanjiang is substituted with a mixture of gochujang and doenjang. The salty and spicy, fermented soybean doubanjiang is effectively replaced with Korean fermented soybean paste and spicy Korean red chili pepper paste.

The dish is spicy, aromatic, deeply flavorful, and has a unique numbing character imparted from the Sichuan peppercorns. While the Sichuan-style mapo tofu is known for its boldness and intensity, the Japanese version has a milder character as it has been adapted to the Japanese palate.

Mapo tofu is sometimes translated as “pockmarked old woman's bean curd.” (In Chinese, “ma” refers to pockmarks, and “po” can refer to an older woman.) The name is an inelegant nod to the smallpox-scarred skin of Mrs.

The more water, the softer or 'silkier' the tofu; with less water, the tofu is firmer. Tofu is categorized as silken, regular, firm, extra-firm and super-firm. Silken, the softest type of tofu, can be compared to a young white cheese.

Ground pork stir fried with silken tofu in a rich, mildly spicy and deeply flavorsome sauce. Mapo Tofu is a classic Chinese dish full of protein, but this one is healthier as there's less of the chillies and oil. It's very easy to make and great for meal prep too.

Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐, ma po dou fu) is one of the most popular dishes from Sichuan cuisine. The tofu pieces are braised in a rich spicy, and savory sauce along with fresh garlic and scallions, with a small amount of ground pork to enhance the flavor. The dish is so appetizing and it goes perfectly with steamed rice.

I would eat Mapo Tofu with a bowl of steamed rice and vegetables that will help cool the mouth-numbing spice of this dish!

Add tofu and carefully fold in, being careful not to break it up too much. Stir in chili oil and half of scallions and simmer for 30 seconds longer. Transfer immediately to a serving bowl and sprinkle with remaining scallions and toasted ground Sichuan pepper. Serve immediately with white rice.

Vegetarian Mapo Tofu. This meat-free version of a popular Sichuan dish boasts tender tofu draped in a savory, mouth-numbing sauce. The characteristic tongue-tingling comes from Sichuan peppercorns.

Mabo Dofu (マーボー豆腐) is the Japanese pronunciation of Mapo Tofu. It is much less spicy than the Chinese original and has a sweeter and more mellow flavor due to the use of Japanese ingredients like miso and mirin.

What makes Mapo Tofu red? ›

Any redness and bright color in a mapo tofu sauce comes from chili sauce, so if you want to make a redder mapo tofu, you're going to need to use a redder chili sauce. Our recipe uses Guilin Style Chili Sauce and isn't too glaringly red, so you may want to play around with chili sauces to get more color.

3.5 oz of firm tofu has 78 calories, and silken tofu has 55 calories. Soft soy tofu with lecithin is ranked second with 61 Calories, but all of those are less than many animal protein options, which usually clock in at 140-200 calories for 3.5-oz servings.

In general, I find that firm and extra-firm tofu are the most useful because they're versatile. They hit the tofu texture sweet spot—soft enough to absorb flavor but hardy enough to be cooked without risk of falling apart. Do note that some firm tofu, like House Foods', skews soft, more like medium-firm.

Borrowed from Hokkien 豆腐 (tāu-hū, “tofu; bean curd”).

Japanese, Chinese and Korean soy sauce all have their own appearance, taste and texture. Korean soy sauce (gan-jang) is lighter in colour compared to Japanese and Chinese soy sauces and tastes saltier and less sweet than you might be used to buying in the supermarket. This is because it doesn't contain any sugar.

Although Korean-Chinese dishes retain a lot of elements from the Northern Chinese food, they are still essentially Korean because of their local flavors and the concentration of many restaurants in overseas Korean communities and Korea.

Mapo tofu (Chinese: 麻婆豆腐; pinyin: mápó dòufu) is a popular Chinese dish from Sichuan province.

What is the difference between the two foods? Per the CNN report, 'kimchi' is a term for fermented vegetables in Korea, mostly referring to fermented napa cabbage with seasonings — including red chili pepper, garlic, ginger and salted seafood. Pao cai, on the other hand, means 'soaked vegetables' in Chinese.