There are so many Mapo Tofu recipes out there. I gravitated toward the recipe posted by @_yourbasicdad since he had a non-spicy version using black bean sauce instead of chili bean sauce. I try to cut sugar where I can, so I modified his version to omit the brown sugar. It tasted great and my son was able to eat the spicy version. The black bean version was also tasty.
The other week I had everything to make this recipe but forgot that I was out of cornstarch. So, I had to adapt the recipe further and go without the cornstarch and it worked! It has the Mapo Tofu flavors without the thickened sauce.
Why you need another Mapo Tofu recipe in your wheelhouse
In this busy world there will be times when you don’t have every single ingredient a recipe calls for on hand. While you could figure out how to doctor a recipe to make it work, that takes more brainpower you need to save to get you through the rest of the day. It’s easier to refer to a written recipe you can rely upon. This is that recipe.
With the current tariffs in place, we’re all cutting corners and trying to stretch our food budgets. This recipe only uses 6 ingredients, making it great for those with smaller kitchens or who don’t have space for lots of different sauces.
How to keep extra lean pork from drying out
Usually, extra lean pork gets dry quickly while it’s cooking. I keep it moist by using a trick from the Thai dish, larb, adding some water to the raw ground pork while it cooks. The water creates steam, and this moisture softens the ground pork, so it is tender and not dry in the final dish. I don’t know if adding water will help dishes that use other cooking methods but let me know if you’ve had success with using water in other extra lean ground pork dishes.
Check out these other weeknight dinner recipes to get you out of your cooking rut:
Mapo Tofu (Without Cornstarch)
Equipment
- 1 small cutting board
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 10" saute pan
- measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 8 ounces extra lean ground pork
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp chili bean paste
- 1 ½ tsp garlic minced (about 3 to 4 cloves)
- 1 14-ounce package firm tofu strained, cut into cubes
- green onions chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the pan to medium high heat. Add the extra firm ground pork and water and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, breaking up the ground pork into small chunks while it cooks.
- Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili bean paste, and garlic. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tofu and stir until well combined and the tofu is lightly coated by the sauce.
- Serve on steamed rice. Top with chopped green onions (optional).
