Mapo Tofu Lite, the Chengdu Way

A lighter Chengdu-style mapo tofu: half the beef, made up with finely chopped shimeji mushrooms, and a quarter of the oil, for about a third fewer calories per serve. Ready in 30 minutes.

Ingredients for 3

Australian tablespoons are 20 ml. Weights are given for the ingredients where it matters.

Method

1. Step 1Prep everything

   Cut the tofu into 2 cm cubes. Chop the mushrooms finely, to about the size of beef crumbs. Finely chop the broad bean paste and roughly chop the black beans. Mince the garlic and ginger. Cut the green garlic, keeping the white parts separate from the leaves. Mix the cornflour with 60 ml cold water. Use a non-stick wok or large frying pan.

   

2. Step 2Blanch the tofu

   Bring about 1 litre of water and 1 tsp salt to a bare simmer. Slide in the tofu and keep it just below a boil for 1 minute. Leave the tofu in the warm water until you need it.

   

3. Step 3Dry-fry the mushrooms

   Put the mushrooms in the dry pan over medium-high heat. Stir now and then for 4–5 minutes, until their liquid has cooked off and they start to brown. Tip them onto a plate. Don't add oil here: mushrooms soak it up.

   

4. Step 4Fry the beef

   Add the 2 tsp oil and the beef. Fry for about 3 minutes until browned and dry, leaving it alone for 30 seconds at a time so it catches a little. Return the mushrooms to the pan.

   

5. Step 5Make the red oil

   Turn the heat to medium-low and push the beef and mushrooms to one side. Fry the broad bean paste for 1–2 minutes, until it turns deep red and smells rich. If the pan looks dry and the paste starts to stick, add a splash of the stock rather than more oil. Add the black beans, chilli powder, garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds more.

   

6. Step 6Add liquid and season

   Pour in the water or stock and bring it to the boil. Add the soy sauce and sugar. Taste before adding any salt, because the bean paste is already salty.

7. Step 7Simmer the tofu

   Drain the tofu and slide it into the sauce. Push it gently with the back of the ladle rather than stirring. Simmer on medium for 4–5 minutes so the tofu takes on the flavour.

   

8. Step 8Thicken in three stages

   Stir the slurry. Pour a third of it around the edge of the pan and shake the pan gently. Wait 20–30 seconds and repeat twice. Add the white parts of the green garlic with the second addition and the leaves with the last. Stop when the sauce is glossy and clings to the tofu.

   

9. Step 9Serve hot

   Slide it into a shallow bowl, sprinkle over the ground Sichuan pepper and serve straight away with steamed rice.

   

Watch it in 72 seconds

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Why this version works

• Mushrooms carry the mince. Chopped small and dry-fried, shimeji brown and soak up the sauce, so half the beef still feels like a full pan of mapo tofu.
• Most of the saving is oil. The standard recipe uses 40 ml; in a non-stick pan 2 teaspoons is enough, and the cornflour slurry keeps the sauce glossy.
• The flavour builders stay. The same Pixian paste, black beans, chilli, green garlic and Sichuan pepper, so it still tastes like Chengdu.

Swaps and variations

• Lighter still: use silken tofu and blanch it for only 30 seconds. It is softer and saves roughly another 20 kcal per serve.
• Extra-lean pork mince works in place of the beef, with about the same calories.
• Lower sodium: use 20 g of bean paste and leave out the soy sauce. This cuts about a third of the sodium.

Nutrition per serve

Calculated by Umall from the ingredient weights, using the label of the tofu we link (Evergreen Classic Tofu) and the Australian Food Composition Database (FSANZ); shimeji are counted as common mushrooms and the beef as regular mince. Values are estimates; a firmer tofu adds about 110 kcal per serve. Energy bands are a guide to portion size, not a health claim.

Questions about Mapo Tofu Lite

Sources and credit

Lighter version by the Umall recipe team, based on our standard mapo tofu (adapted from Chef Wang Gang and cross-checked with Chen Kenmin). The lighter techniques, mushrooms for part of the meat and much less oil, follow the Japanese and Chinese home-cooking sources listed below.

• 美食作家王刚 (Chef Wang Gang), 厨师长教你：麻婆豆腐的正宗做法, video, 2018
• 陳建民 (Chen Kenmin), 麻婆豆腐, NHK きょうの料理
• DELISH KITCHEN, 肉なし麻婆豆腐 (shimeji instead of meat)
• 札幌市南区 健康レシピ, 麻婆豆腐 (less oil, more vegetables)
• 協会けんぽ埼玉, カラフル麻婆豆腐 (less meat, lighter tofu)
• 新浪, 麻婆豆腐的热量高吗？ (oil from 30–50 ml down to 10–15 ml)
• Chloe Ting, Healthy Mapo Tofu (1 tsp oil in a non-stick pan)