Name: Vegan Mapo Tofu
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients: 4 or 5 dried shiitake mushrooms; Kosher salt; 14 to 16 ounces (390 to 450 grams) firm tofu, cut into ¾-inch cubes; 1 Tbsp. potato starch; 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil; 2 tsp. whole Sichuan peppercorns; 5 dried red chiles, cut into ¾-inch segments and seeds shaken out; 1 Tbsp. peeled and minced fresh ginger; 1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic; 1 Tbsp. fermented black beans, coarsely chopped; 2½ Tbsp. Sichuan chili bean paste; 1 tsp. ground Sichuan chile or chili flakes; 1 cup unsalted stock of any kind or water; ½ tsp. sugar; 1 tsp. soy sauce; 2 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced, for garnish; ½ tsp. ground Sichuan peppercorns

Mapo tofu with scallions in a clay bowl.

Photo by Hannah Che

In culinary school, I learned how to make the vegetarian version of mapo tofu from Chef Li, a Sichuanese chef, who explained that the four essential ingredients are the fermented black beans, chili bean paste, ground Sichuan peppercorns, and ground red chiles—everything else was negotiable. He used minced shiitake mushrooms in place of the ground beef and taught me to thicken the dish with three rounds of starch slurry, until the tofu was suspended in a silky, viscous sauce. We toasted fresh red peppercorns in oil and ground up more peppercorns to sprinkle on the dish for the famous numbing sensation, and suddenly all the elusive, seductive aromas were effortlessly alive.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Vegan Chinese Kitchen’ by Hannah Che. Buy the full book on Amazon. This book was selected as one of the best cookbooks of 2022; this recipe appears in our Vegan Comfort Food Meal Plan.