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Mapo Tofu Banchan
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4.25 from 33 votes

Mapo Tofu Banchan - Made Korean-Style!

Make it with basic Korean pantry items

Ingredients

Tofu

  • 300 -350 grams Tofu (Firm)
  • 4 cups Water
  • 1 Tablespoon Salt

Mapo Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 stalk Spring Onion (use white portion) (forearm-length piece)
  • 2 Tablespoons Minced garlic 5-7 garlic cloves
  • ½ Tablespoon Minced ginger
  • 200 grams Minced pork (Or minced beef)
  • 4 Tablespoons Vegetable oil
  • 3 Tablespoons Soy sauce
  • 1 cup Water
  • 2 Tablespoons Gochugaru
  • 3 Tablespoons Gochujang
  • 1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
  • 5-6 shakes Black Pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

Starch Powder Water

  • 1 Tablespoon Starch Powder
  • 2 Tablespoons Water

Instructions

Blanche Tofu

  • Cut a block of tofu (300-350g) into smaller bite-sized cubes. Fill a pot with 4 cups of water. Add salt (1 Tablespoon) and bring it to a boil. Add the tofu pieces into the water and set a timer for 1 minute. After 1 minute, empty the water out through a strainer and set the tofu aside for now.

Prep Ingredients

  • Cut the spring onion stalk into thin slices. Measure out and mince a piece of ginger (we need ½ Tablespoon worth). Mince 6-8 cloves of garlic (we need 2 Tablespoons worth). Then measure 200 grams of minced pork.

Cook Mapo Tofu

  • Place wok or large frying pan on a medium-high heat. Place in 4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil. Once the oil gets hot, add-in sliced spring onions. Then add in the minced garlic and minced ginger. Mix everything together until it gets aromatic.
  • Then add in the minced pork. Stir-fry everything until most of the pink is gone from the meat. Then add in Soy Sauce (3 Tablespoons). Stir-fry everything in the soy sauce for 10-15 seconds. Then add-in the water (1 cup).
  • Now add-in Gochugaru (2 Tablespoons), Gochujang (3 Tablespoons), Fish Sauce (1 Tablespoon), Sugar (2 Tablespoons), Black Pepper (5-6 cracks). Mix everything together.
  • Add the tofu pieces in and stir it in gently. Quickly mix together starch powder (1 Tablespoon) with water (2 Tablespoons). Give it a good mix and slowly add the starch water into the stew to thicken it up (don't add everything at once - about half should be enough).
  • Finally, add-in the Sesame Oil (1 Tablespoon). This will round-out all of the spicy flavors. Give it a final mix and turn off the heat.
  • Serve with rice! Bon Appetit