Japanese-style Mapo Tofu (Mabo Dofu) is incredibly flavorful but much less spicy than the original Sichuan dish. Even children can enjoy this family-friendly recipe. It’s a delicious yet simple weeknight meal that’s ready in just 30 minutes! {Vegetarian/Vegan Adaptable}
Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐) is easily one of our family’s favorite meals! It is so simple to make yet soul-satisfying. I love preparing this dish on a hectic weeknight when I only have 30 minutes to spare for cooking dinner for the family.
We often eat mapo tofu donburi-style, with the tofu-and-sauce mixture over fluffy steamed rice. Yes, who doesn’t like a one-bowl meal for easy cleanup? I think you and your family are going to enjoy it.
Table of Contents
What is Mapo Tofu?
Mapo tofu is a popular Chinese dish from Sichuan province known for its fiery bright red sauce. The classic recipe is made with simmered silken tofu flavored with ground pork or beef, fermented bean paste (douban and douchi), chili oil, and Sichuan peppercorns. The dish is spicy, aromatic, deeply flavorful, and has a unique numbing character imparted from the Sichuan peppercorns.
While the Sichuan-style mapo tofu is known for its boldness and intensity, the Japanese version has a milder character as it has been adapted to the Japanese palate. Nevertheless, Japanese mapo tofu is still packed with lots of umami— thanks to the layering of flavors. Also, the spice level is tamed. If you’re looking for a not-spicy mapo tofu, this recipe is for you!
I’d say Japanese mapo tofu is ideal for anyone who is spice adverse, and even your kids will devour it.
Introduction of Mapo Tofu to Japan
In Japan, mapo tofu is called mabo dofu, and it’s written either as 麻婆豆腐 or マーボー豆腐 in Japanese.
How did the dish arrive in Japan, you might wonder? It was introduced to the country in the 1970s by Chen Kenmin, a famous Chinese chef in Japan. I mentioned Chef Chen in my previous post here. He was the culinary hero that brought many popular Chinese dishes to the Chinese restaurants in Japan.
Thanks to Chef Chen, you’ll find a number of famous Chinese dishes such as mapo tofu, ebi chili (chili prawns エビチリ), and beef and bell pepper stir-fry (chin-jao ro-su 青椒肉絲) that are now part of our repertoire.
These dishes have been enjoyed in Japanese households for almost half a century! In grocery stores, you can find a whole array of convenient ready-to-eat sauces for these popular dishes. I remember seeing these packages in my mom’s kitchen pantry too.
Difference between Chinese and Japanese Mapo Tofu
There are many versions of mabo dofu within Japan, and each household cooks it differently.
So, what ingredients do the Japanese use in the dish that are not included in the original Chinese mapo tofu? Typically, we would include miso, mirin or sugar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and occasionally sake.
Most distinctly, Japanese mabo dofu doesn’t include any chili or Sichuan peppercorn.
Most distinctly, Japanese mabo dofu doesn’t include any chili or Sichuan peppercorn. The only “spicy” element comes from doubanjiang, spicy bean paste. However, if you can find a Taiwanese brand of doubanjiang, you can buy a non-spicy doubanjiang (豆瓣酱) or spicy doubanjiang (辣豆瓣酱) with red chili in it. More about it in the next section.
The Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe:
- Ground pork – In Japan, we always use ground pork. However, you can use ground turkey, chicken, or beef.
- Soft/silken tofu
- Aromatics: Green onions, ginger, and garlic
- Condiments: Doubanjiang (spicy/non-spicy broad bean), miso, mirin, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, and potato starch (cornstarch)
The Key Ingredient is Doubanjiang
This is truly a simple dish to make. The only caveat is you do need to have chili bean paste called doubanjiang (豆瓣酱).
Doubanjiang is a combination of fermented broad beans as the main ingredient, soybeans, and often hot chilies. The salty, savory, umami-rich paste adds an incredible depth and character to mapo tofu that you should not substitute.
Non-Spicy Doubanjiang: Did you know that there is NON-SPICY doubanjiang? Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Guandong in China have non-spicy doubanjiang. It has the same savory depth in the paste but without the heat. To distinguish the two versions, the Sichuan doubanjiang is called la-doubanjiang (辣豆瓣醬, “la” (辣) meaning ‘hot’ or ‘spicy’).
When the kids were small, I used only non-spicy doubanjiang to make my mapo tofu. Taiwanese brands like Kangshan (岡山) (above) and Ming Teh (明德) offer the doubanjiang made from fermented broad beans and soybeans, as well as the spicy version with chili.
You can get these Taiwanese brands at a local Asian grocery store (I get mine at Marina Market in San Mateo). Amazon does not sell the non-spicy doubanjiang at this time (please let me know if you find one).
- Ming Teh Doubanjiang (non-spicy) – Yummy Bazaar
- Kangshan Doubanjiang (non-spicy) – Walmart
- Kangshan Doubanjiang (non-spicy) – Weee!
Doubanjiang Substitute: If you really can’t find doubanjiang, you can use gochujang (Korean chili paste; spicy) or doenjang (Korean soybean paste; non-spicy). However, the ingredients are slightly different and have different flavor profiles.
The Best Tofu for Mapo Tofu Recipe
There are many different types of tofu available, but I recommend using soft tofu for the best texture. Soft tofu is smooth, soft, and creamy, which pairs beautifully with the savory sauce and ground meat. It works best for both Japanese-style mabo dofu and authentic Sichuan mapo tofu.
How to Make Mapo Tofu
Mapo tofu is a very easy dish, and my son can make it by himself. This was one of the first few recipes he learned to cook over the summer break one year. He loved this dish so much and wanted to be able to cook it on his own.
Here’s the overview.
- Prepare all the ingredients. Measure and combine all the seasonings before you start cooking.
- Cook the aromatics and ground pork in a frying pan or wok.
- Add the sauce ingredients and let it simmer until the sauce starts bubbling.
- Add the tofu and coat it with the sauce until the flavors infuse.
- Serve on its own or with steamed rice!
Now you have one reliably satisfying dish for the family. I hope you enjoy my Japanese Mapo Tofu recipe!
5 Cooking Tips on Making Mapo Tofu
- Measure and cut all the ingredients before cooking.
- Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.
- Drain the tofu ahead of time for about 15 minutes. This prevents the tofu from releasing moisture into the sauce.
- Be cautious not to burn the garlic and ginger when stir-frying. You don’t want to add a burnt bitter taste to the sauce.
- Carefully stir the tofu: Tofu can easily break and become mushy. Shake the pan to coat the tofu with the sauce, minimizing spatula action.
The Wok I’m Using in This Recipe
I’m partnering with MTC Kitchen, my favorite Japanese kitchen store in NYC, to try out this carbon steel wok, and I love it!
This nitrogen-hardened wok, a new series of iron cookware from Summit Japan, is infused with nitrogen, offering durability, rust resistance, and all the benefits of traditional carbon steel cookware. They are compatible with induction, gas, or electric stoves. Compared to standard carbon steel cookware, these are extremely durable and rust-proof due to the nitrogen treatment.
I really like Summit’s carbon steel series because they’re much lighter than French carbon steel pans. Their excellent heat conductivity makes them perfect for frying, stir-frying, and grilling—essential for Asian cooking! If you’re looking to invest in a carbon steel wok, I highly recommend them as they will last for years with proper care.
- Summit Nitrogen Hardened Iron Beijing Wok Pan (Embossed) 11.8″ Diameter (use JOC10 for 10% off!)
FAQs
Q: Can I use this recipe to make vegan or vegetarian mapo tofu?
Yes! Use finely diced shiitake mushrooms in place of the ground pork. Both fresh and dried mushrooms would work. Aldo, use vegetarian stir-fry sauce.
Q: Can I use another kind of ground meat instead of pork?
Sure, you can use ground chicken or turkey. Ground beef will have a stronger flavor, but it should be fine.
Q: Can I adjust the spice level?
You can cut down on doubanjiang (spicy bean paste) or use the Taiwanese non-spicy doubanjiang I mentioned earlier. If you like it slightly spicier, sprinkle la-yu (Japanese chili oil).
More Delicious Tofu Recipes
- Pan-Fried Teriyaki Tofu Bowl
- Agedashi Tofu
- Japanese-style Tofu Pizza
- Japanese Chilled Tofu
- Vegetarian Udon with Tofu
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Mapo Tofu (Mabo Dofu)
Video
Ingredients
For the Seasonings
- 2½ Tbsp doubanjiang (spicy chili bean paste) (for less spicy, use 1½ Tbsp doubanjiang (non-spicy) and 1 Tbsp la doubanjiang (spicy); read more about this condiment in the blog post; use gluten-free doubanjiang for GF)
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp miso
- ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch
- 4 Tbsp water
For the Mapo Tofu
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp ginger (minced)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 14 oz soft/silken tofu (kinugoshi dofu) (drain for 15–30 minutes, if you can)
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil
- ½ lb ground pork (or your choice of meat and veggies)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Combine all the seasonings. Add 2½ Tbsp doubanjiang (spicy chili bean paste), 1 Tbsp oyster sauce, 1 Tbsp miso, ½ Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp mirin, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tsp potato starch or cornstarch, and 4 Tbsp water in a bowl. Mix well together with a whisk.
- Finely mince 2 cloves garlic (I use a garlic press). Peel the ginger skin thinly with a sharp knife. If you can't peel it thinly, you can scrape it off with a spoon.
- Cut the ginger into thin slices, julienne into thin strips, and then mince them. Measure 1 Tbsp ginger.
- Cut 2 green onions/scallions into small pieces.
- Drain 14 oz soft/silken tofu (kinugoshi dofu) and cut into ¾-inch (2-cm) cubes.
To Cook the Mapo Tofu
- Heat a wok or large frying pan on medium heat. When it‘s hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and ginger to the wok.
- Sauté in the oil (make sure they don‘t burn). Once they are fragrant, add ½ lb ground pork.
- Cook the pork, breaking up big chunks with a spatula or wooden spoon, until no longer pink.
- Add the seasoning mixture and stir thoroughly. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Once the sauce is simmering, add the tofu and gently coat it with the sauce. Stir frequently, without mashing the tofu, until it is heated through.
- Add the green onions and stir to incorporate just before taking the pan off the heat.
To Serve
- Sprinkle sansho pepper and serve immediately.
- You can enjoy Mapo Tofu as a part of the ichiju sansai meal or over steamed rice as a one-bowl meal.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I do not recommend freezing this dish as tofu changes its texture once frozen.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on January 29, 2011. The video was added to the post on May 6, 2016. The post has been republished with more content and new images on February 4, 2024.
This is one of my favourite dishes to make 🙂 I always follow your recipe, except I use more meat because of the packaging size, and also more ladoubanjan and soy sauce. Every time I serve this to people they will want seconds.
Hi Aino! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I know this is an older recipe, but I absolutely love your recipes! I am a huge fan of mapo tofu, and I have enjoyed your recipe the most. I was curious how much of the sauce you include when you add the bean sauce? Or perhaps I’m buying the wrong ingredient! The only ones I can find around me have quite a bit of liquid-y sauce, and every time I debate how much of the sauce vs only bean paste to include.
Thanks so much!
Hi Emi! Thank you so much for using my recipes! Mr. JOC and our son LOVES this mapo tofu recipe and I always come to this recipe to make every single mapo tofu I make at home. 🙂
Hm, interesting question. I usually stick my spoon in, and scoop up. I don’t pay too much attention to liquid vs paste itself. I won’t pick up just the liquid, or vice versa. I make sure I pick up enough paste part. Sometimes it is chunkier than normal too. But remember, tofu has so much moisture content that it also dilute the mapo tofu. So it’s not just the sauce, but tofu affects the overall outcome too. 🙂 Sorry I don’t think my response is very helpful…
Cooked this last night! It was fantastic – so flavorful, and refreshing with the ginger. Wish I could upload a picture to show you how it turned out! Thanks for this quick/easy/delicious recipe that’ll definitely be a constant in our rotation.
Hi Laura! I’m so happy you enjoyed cooking this recipe! Yeah, sorry I don’t have that function here. Most of JOC friends upload their pictures with hashtag #justonecookbook on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I regularly check these hashtag Thank you for trying my recipe!
Hi, I really love ur recipes. Can I omit the miso in this recipe?
Hi BB! I prefer that it’s in, but if you don’t want to, that’s okay too. I hope it will still taste good. 🙂
Hi! I just tried this recipe but with what I had on hand and it turned out great! I used LKK Black Bean Garlic Sauce and LKK Chili Garlic Sauce. I am surprised to see miso in the seasoning! I’ll have to buy some and the LKK Chili Bean Paste and try this again. So much more satisfying than buying the Cook Do packets. Thanks Nami!
I used to use Cook Do packets back in college days, but this homemade recipe is far better than those convenient packages. The effort is almost same as package one, so it’s so worth making it from scratch! Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
I’m in Singapore and not sure if I’ll be able to find broad bean paste. Can I substitute it with black bean paste instead?
Hi Alice! They are very different. The brand I use is from Taiwan, I think, but can you find 豆板醤 without chili in it (so it’s not red, more brown)? I’m sure you can find the spicy version chili bean paste 豆板醤 in Singapore to make Chinese dishes. 🙂
I’m looking forward to having this tomorrow, looks lovely.
I could only find the chilli bean paste in the store, I suppose it’s fine to make this using only that one?
Hi Emy! Sure, as long as you’re okay with spice. 🙂 Mr. JOC will love using only chili bean paste, but it’s a bit too spicy for the kids so I combine the two. 🙂
I guess I will just have to try and see. 🙂 Thanks!
Hi Nami! Can I use black bean garlic sauce instead of chili bean sauce? Thanks!
Hi Janice! Unfortunately, no, mapo tofu’s main flavor comes from doubanjiang or la doubanjiang (chili bean sauce). Black bean garlic sauce is different, and it’ll taste different. 🙂
Ok, thank you for your reply, I just realized I also have the Lian How brand bean sauce in my pantry! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Cool! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
This is a delicious recipe. I’ve tried it with only Doubanjiang and only Ladoubanjiang, and the ldoubanjiang is definitely spicy, in a slow burn way. A mix of both works well, as you suggested, though just Doubanjiang was nice when I didn’t want this to be spicy. The cheap supermarket Mirin I have has a lot of salt, so the dish wound up being too salty. I modified this recipe to use Chinese Rice Cooking wine and 1 tsp of sugar and it worked well. I suspect I could have kept the mirin and dropped the soy sauce as well.
Hi Joe! Thank you for your kind words! We started with doubanjiang as my kids couldn’t eat any spice (and me too). After being exposed to some spice, we are now okay with half and half. Only problem for me is that I tend to eat more rice to recover from the burn. 🙂
Yeah, I prefer not to use those mirin-like condiment too. I think it’s best with your method than dropping soy sauce. Also, depends on the miso brand and miso type, salt content is VERY different. Always tricky to include miso as it varies so much. 🙂
I wonder if I can add a little bit of eggplant chopped in this dish too or is it overkill?
Hi K. Dillon! Sure, you can. Eggplant absorbs lots of oil, so keep that in mind. You might want to cook the eggplant first take it out, cook the meat, and add the eggplant back in. So you won’t be stir frying eggplant for a long time and break the eggplant texture… 🙂
I love this recipe! It’s very delicious.
I previously saw tip elsewhere to poach the tofu before adding to the recipe. It’s a fabulous tip that goes with this very delicious recipe. This is now one of my regular recipes. Thank you Nami!
Hi Treena! Thank you for trying this recipe and I’m so happy to hear you like it. Thank you for sharing the tip on poaching the tofu! I’ll definitely give it a try! 🙂 xo
Thx Nami!
Seems amazing! Going to try this next week :-).
Are you also doing “grilled” tofu? By grilled I mean some sort of slightly breaded tofu cubes (texture was a little hard outside and mellow (standard for tofu) inside). The mother of one of my friends who is Cambodian was doing this and it was excellent but I can’t find a recipe to reproduce it :-(.
Have a nice weekend!
Hi Bastien! I hope you enjoy this recipe! You’re probably talking about Agedashi Tofu:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/agedashi-tofu-2/
Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Delicious! I added pickled Chinese vegetables and 6 ground Sichuan peppercorns and it was as amazing!
Hi Maw! Ohh that sounds delicious! Thank you for trying this recipe! 🙂
HI Nami, I made your recipe for dinner tonight (for the second time) and my family enjoyed it very much. Easy steps for a weeknight meal, but so flavorful and delicious! I did have a question about one step in the recipe. After I cooked the pork, I noticed there was quite a bit of oil and liquid in the pan. I drained it before adding the sauce, but do you keep it in? Also are there any side dishes that go well with this bowl meal? I served Asparagus tonight, but wondered if there was something else that goes well… Thank you so much for your website! Love the videos and photos, too.
Hi Anna! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe and your family enjoyed it! Thanks so much for your kind feedback! Depends on how fat the pork is too. I use 75% so it’s pretty oily for me, but I don’t remove the liquid as it’s part of deliciousness. But if you want to keep it healthy, then you can use kitchen towel to absorb and toss. As for side dishes, since it has meat and tofu, I usually serve stir fried veggies or salad on the side. Nothing fancy… salad, if I can make it ahead of time, and stir fry veggies if I have no time and have to cook two dishes at the same time. 🙂 Hope that helps!
This is another recipe that I will add to my weekly rotation. I love to eat it with raw or steamed vegetables. Thank you Nami for sharing the recipe.
Hi Gwen! I’m happy to hear you want to try this recipe. Hope you’ll enjoy it. Serving with vegetables sounds wonderful. Today some JOC reader told me she served it with cauliflower rice and loved it. 🙂