Ma-Po Tofu (Simmered Tofu With Ground Pork) Recipe (2024)

You need 1 or 2 tablespoons szechuan hot bean paste (la do ban jiang) added to the pork, then a tablespoon or 2 of sherry added with the stock. You can also thicken with a little cornstarch & water. Garnish with ground szechuan peppercorns & scallions.

Add a tablespoon of fermented black beans along with the garlic, ginger, and red pepper for even better flavor.

Simple and delicious over any rice. My husband who doesn't love pork or tofu adores this recipe which easily serves two of us twice, and is just as good reheated. He asks for it at least once a week and it is a snap to make. I can see adding all sorts of things to this but it is delicious as is. The only changes I made were a finely chopped small onion with the garlic, doubled the ginger, and used diced cucumber on the top for crunch and freshness.

Been making this for years. Always use a firm tofu since the silken seems to just dissolve into the dish and I like a little more mouth feel to the tofu and even firm will break up during cooking. Also it does need some kick but it's easy enough to increase the red pepper or serve with sriracha or other hot sauce on the side does it for us. Think I'll try the fermented black beans.

This is a pork and tofu recipe with very little resemblance to Ma po tofu. Call it something else

Also added 1 tablespoon of Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce when the garlic, ginger, and red pepper was added to the pan.
Used firm tofu instead of soft.
Thickened the final product with a slurry of water and cornstarch.
Served over rice.
Served leftovers with a dollop of Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp Sauce -- out of this world good!

this is NOT a mapo tofu recipe. It's a ground pork and tofu recipe.

Agree with other commenters that calling this mapo tofu is a real stretch. Without fermented black beans, doubanjiang, or sichuan peppercorns, it's like making mac and cheese and calling it spaghetti carbonara. Sure, those ingredients aren't the easiest to find (though amazon has all of them) but finding them and learning how to use them is part of the fun. Either way, this isn't mapo tofu.

Good flavor, but a little boring. Tried some of the suggestions below - especially fermented black beans and hosin sauce which help a lot, but also thought it would help to add vegetables to the dish as well. Have tried this with spinach, baby bok choy and broccoli - the latter two steamed first and added when the tofu is added. The spinach can be added when the tofu is added also, but doesn't have to be steamed first.

Scrub tier recipe, you need doubanjiang like other comments have pointed out. Additionally, you will want to add ground Sichuan peppercorn for the numbing (ma) feel as well as sesame oil (optional) to finish after the heat is turned off.

We are big fans of the author and his books, but it is, in my opinion, incorrect to call this Ma-Po Tofu without the ingredient la doubanjiang. The Japanese also do an interesting take on this dish often including miso and mirin. Like many of Mr. Bittman's dishes this is a simplified version and there is nothing wrong with that. His is yummy but if you like it, try kicking it up a notch with the la doubanjiang or research the Japanese variations. Cheers

Yeah, this recipe needs some help. One has to add Szechuan numbing pepper otherwise it’s not Ma Po Dofu. I toast whole pepper corns & then grind in coffee grinder until fine. Use 1 t. or to taste. Also I like to add fermented black beans, Shaoxing rice wine, rice vinegar (Marukan) & more red pepper or Sriracha, should be spicy. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

This recipe is missing a lot of key flavor ingredients (separately noted by others)Sichuan spicy bean paste added to the ground porkRoasted Sichuan peppercorns, ground, added at the end.Nice option, one cup of English peas added at the same time as the tofu.

I found this unbearably bland. Added a brown sauce and some hot pepper stuff.

This is in no way, shape, or form, Ma Po tofu. It’s a pretty bland stir fry. If the recipe is followed, it is BLAH. Not good.

Simple and tasty. I used Quorn crumbles instead of pork to replicate the texture of the meat dish. Also, firm tofu works best (but I hate the slimy texture of silken tofu so wouldn't use it anyway.)

Love making this dish! I use ground chicken instead of pork and I also add chili garlic bean paste and gobijang (sp).

“This is bussin’” said my 10 year old after his first bite. Plates cleaned. Will be making this simple and flavorful dish again!

This is an "American Mapo Tofu". As others commented, this recipe needs sesame oil instead of peanut or bland oil, and do ban jiang, Shaoxing rice wine, bloomed Sichuan pink peppercorns instead of pepper flakes, and chile crisp condiment served separately. The tofu needs to be marinated in the flavors instead of being added almost at the end. I usually do not totally revise recipes, but this one really needed it IMO. It was a great recipe to use as a base, with modifications.

Added 1T fermented beans and double garlic/ginger

Added plenty of Sichuan chili oil - pretty easy to eye ball this recipe to your taste.

No schezan peppercorn.

Add Szechwan pepper and doublejung

Cooked 3/30/22. Can’t go wrong with these flavors. Used a flavor packet from Ames Asian grocery which pulled this dish out of Midwest mediocrity into Manchurian marvelousness.

No sichuan pepper corns or black bean paste in town. Will add next time.Added two teaspoons of fried garlic in chili oil.

I was rushing and tired but I had some silken tofu and ground pork. Boiled some brown rice noodles while making the dish. Added several dollops of excellent chili oil from Botanica (an LA restaurant and purveyor of yummy things, including excellent spices and other custom condiments) when I added the tofu. Then through in the noodles and stirred like mad. Tofu became a rich chili-infused sauce and my husband was still swooning after two helpings.

As other have said this is not an authentic ma po tofu but it is tasty and fast. Yes it needs some additions for better depth of flavor. I added some black bean garlic sauce and a splash of sesame oil. Worth making again.

With all due respect to the white-European author, this recipe might be for some kind of tofu dish, but with neither doubanjiang or szechuan peppercorns, it isn't Mapo Tofu. It's culturally lazy to use a name for a dish without respecting the key ingredients that make it that dish. If I made "Chicken noodle soup" with fish stock because I live on a remote island, it isn't chicken soup.