Mapo Tofu

This dish features tender, silky tofu with a spicy kick, using salted duck eggs in place of traditional broad bean paste. The result is a savory, umami-rich flavor with a subtle numbing heat that is incredibly appetizing and perfect with rice. It is rich in high-quality protein and various trace minerals, including calcium and iron. The recipe is moderately easy to prepare, making it beginner-friendly, and takes approximately 40 minutes to complete.

Estimated Calories：476 kcal

Ingredients and Tools

• Silken tofu (Qingmei brand recommended)
• Fruit knife
• Salted duck eggs (Liufuya brand recommended; this is the soul of the dish)
• Pork belly (ground pork from the supermarket is also acceptable)
• Garlic
• Fresh ginger
• Small hot peppers (optional if you don't eat spicy food)
• Spicy sauce (Guangle brand recommended)
• Sichuan peppercorns
• Salt
• Soy sauce (Weijixian soy sauce)

Calculation

• 1 box of silken tofu
• 1 salted duck egg
• 20–30 g of pork belly
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 slices of ginger
• 5 small chili peppers
• 5 g of minced garlic chili sauce
• 20 Sichuan peppercorns
• 3 g of salt
• 10 g of soy sauce

Steps

1. Mince the garlic and ginger, then set aside.
2. Slice the small chili peppers into rings, then set aside.
3. Mince the pork belly (skip this step if you are using pre-minced meat).
4. Add half of the salt and Weijixian soy sauce to the minced meat, mix well, and set aside.
5. Cut the duck eggs in half vertically with a kitchen knife (be careful), remove the yolks (this is mandatory to avoid a fishy taste), and chop the remaining egg whites into pieces approximately 2 mm x 2 mm in size. They do not need to be very fine. Set aside.
6. Open the tofu package and use a fruit knife to cut the tofu in the container into pieces approximately 2.5 cm x 3 cm in size, then set aside.
7. Heat a pan and add 10ml - 15ml of cooking oil. Wait for 10 seconds to let the oil temperature rise.
8. Turn the heat to low, add the garlic, ginger, chili rings, Sichuan peppercorns, salted duck egg, and minced chili sauce. Stir-fry for 20 seconds until fragrant.
9. Turn the heat to medium, add the minced meat, and stir-fry for about 1 minute until the meat changes color.
10. Turn the heat to low, add the tofu, and sprinkle the remaining salt and Weijixian soy sauce evenly over the tofu.
11. Pour boiling water from the edge of the pan (to prevent the tofu from breaking) until it covers the tofu.
12. Turn the heat to high, and as soon as the water boils, immediately reduce to medium heat. Wait for about 10 minutes.
13. Once the water has reduced to 1/5 of the original amount and the surface of the tofu has absorbed the color, turn off the heat and serve on a plate.

Additional Notes

• Be sure to keep a close eye on it to prevent the pot from burning.

If you encounter any issues or identify any steps that could be improved while following this guide's preparation process, please open an Issue or Pull request.