You can make this Korean-style mapo tofu recipe with a few basic ingredients in less than 30 minutes. Enjoy soft tofu infused with intense savory and spicy Korean flavors.
Mapo tofu is a popular Chinese dish in which small tofu cubes are braised in a spicy chili bean paste-based sauce. It originated from the Sichuan province, which is known for having cuisine with bold flavors — pungency and spiciness. Mapo tofu is also a popular menu item at Chinese restaurants in Korea. It’s called mapa dubu (마파 두부) in Korean.
The authentic Chinese mapo tofu typically calls for doubanjiang (dubanjang, 두반장, in Korean), which is a spicy, salty fermented bean paste, and Sichuan peppercorns (aka Chinese coriander). However, these ingredients are not staples in Korean kitchens.
To recreate this dish at home, Koreans often use a combination of Korean fermented soybean paste (doenjang, 된장), red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru, 고추가루), and red chili pepper paste (gochujang, 고추장). It works deliciously!
This certainly is not the dish you get from your local Sichuan restaurant, but it has all the elements of the dish – soft tofu infused with intense savory and spicy flavors!
How to make Korean-style mapo tofu
Start with stir-frying the aromatic vegetables and some gochugaru in hot oil. By adding the gochugaru at this stage, you’ll create the effect of using chili oil. You can still use chili oil, if available. To give the sauce more heat, you can add some dried hot peppers to the oil, use more gochugaru, or throw in some fresh hot chili peppers instead of the bell peppers I used in this recipe.
Pork is the classic meat for this dish, but you can use beef if you’d like, or omit the meat to make a vegetarian dish.
I prefer to use soft tofu, (not extra soft/silken) which is labeled as 찌게용 (for jjigae) if you buy Korean tofu packages, but the firm one, 부침용 (for pan frying) is okay too if you’d like a firmer texture.
If you like Korean flavors and tofu, you will love this dish! I bet you can whip this up in less than 30 minutes, making it suitable for a weeknight meal.
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Ingredients
- 1 package tofu 14 to 16 ounces
- 4 ounces ground pork or beef
- 1/2 medium onion finely diced
- 2 scallions finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/4 green bell pepper or 1 green chili pepper, finely diced
- 1/4 red bell pepper or 1 red chili pepper, finely diced
Seasoning
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil or chili oil
- 1 tablespoon gochugaru 고추가루, Korean red chili pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon doenjang 된장, Korean fermented soybean paste
- 1/2 tablespoon gochujang 고추장, Korean red chili pepper paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar or add one more teaspoon for a sweeter taste
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water to make starch slurry
Instructions
- Prepare the vegetables as specified.
- Cut the tofu into about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick cubes.
- Heat a large pan with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, 1/2 of the chopped scallion, garlic, and gochugaru, and stir-fry until fragrant, 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add the meat, and cook until the meat is no longer pink, breaking up with a wooden spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, doenjang, gochujang, and sugar and stir to blend with the meat. Add the bell peppers and cook briefly until slightly softened.
- Add 1-1/2 cups of water to the pan, and bring it to a boil.
- Then, slide the tofu into the pan, gently stirring to spread into a single layer. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, gently stirring 2 to 3 times to make sure the tofu doesn’t stick to the pan.
- Gently stir in the starch slurry to thicken the sauce, and then the sesame oil. Cook for another minute or so to bring everything together. Garnish with the remaining scallion, and serve hot with steamed rice.
