Mapo tofu
Soft cubes of tofu in a fiery, garlicky red sauce, with finely chopped mushrooms standing in for the pork, spooned over plenty of rice.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $2.70 a serving
- 730 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 1 package firm tofu, drained
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 4 oz white mushrooms, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
From your pantry
- 2¼ cups water, divided
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Each serving has about 730 calories, 30 g protein, 93 g carbs and 27 g fat, and costs about $2.70 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the rice and bring it in a small with 1½ cups water and the salt over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
Stir once, cover, and cook on low for 15 minutes. Take it off the heat and leave the lid on.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Meanwhile, cut the tofu into ¾-inch and let them sit on a paper towel while you cook.
Cube. Cubing means cutting food into chunky, even squares, usually three quarters of an inch to an inch. Same-size cubes cook at the same speed and brown on every side.
How you’ll know: Your pieces look like a handful of sugar cubes, a little bigger than diced, all close to the same size.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring now and then, 6 to 8 minutes, until their water cooks off and they .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Mushrooms let out water first and brown after. Wait for the pan to go quiet and dry.to medium and add the garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce and miso. Stir 1 minute, and the oil turns red.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heat
Stir the cornstarch into ¼ cup water in a cup until smooth. This is your .
Slurry. A slurry is cornstarch or flour stirred into a little cold water until smooth. Stirred into a simmering sauce, it thickens it within a couple of minutes without lumps.
How you’ll know: It looks like milk with no lumps, and the sauce turns glossy and thick once it bubbles again.
Pour ½ cup water, the soy sauce and the sugar into the skillet and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
Slide in the tofu and gently push it around with the back of a spoon until it’s covered in sauce. 5 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Push, don’t stir. Soft tofu breaks apart if you stir it like a stir-fry.Food safety: Tofu is safe to eat straight from the package; cooking is only for texture and flavor.
Stir the , pour it in, and gently shake the pan for about 1 minute, until the sauce and turns glossy.
Slurry. A slurry is cornstarch or flour stirred into a little cold water until smooth. Stirred into a simmering sauce, it thickens it within a couple of minutes without lumps.
How you’ll know: It looks like milk with no lumps, and the sauce turns glossy and thick once it bubbles again.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Turn off the heat, with the sesame oil, and scatter the green onions and pepper flakes on top. Serve over the rice.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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