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Mapo Doufu: Dunlop's Authoritative Recipe Summary

A consolidated reference entry summarising the critical points of Dunlop's definitive mapo tofu recipe from *The Food of Sichuan* — intended as a production guide that consolidates the technique entries into a single actionable sequence. **The twelve steps of Dunlop's authoritative mapo tofu:** 1. Blanch silken tofu (2cm cubes) in salted simmering water for 2 minutes. Drain. Reserve. 2. Fry doubanjiang (2 tablespoons) in 3 tablespoons of oil on medium-low heat for 3–5 minutes. Oil turns red. 3. Add douchi (1 tablespoon, roughly chopped). 30 seconds. 4. Add minced garlic (3 cloves) and ginger (equivalent). 30 seconds. 5. Add ground pork (100g). Break up and cook until no longer pink. 6. Add Shaoxing wine (1 tablespoon), light soy sauce (1 tablespoon). 7. Add hot chicken stock (200ml). Bring to a simmer. 8. Add blanched tofu. Move by swirling the wok. Simmer 5 minutes. 9. Cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water): add and swirl until the sauce thickens around the tofu. 10. Chilli oil (2 tablespoons). Stir gently. 11. Serve. Scatter freshly ground Sichuan pepper (1 teaspoon, toasted) over the surface. 12. Additional drizzle of chilli oil. **[VERIFY]** Dunlop's exact recipe proportions from *The Food of Sichuan* (2019 edition).

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesFour portions
Total30 minutes
Sourced4of 14 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

400 g
silken tofu
cut into 2 cm cubes
Origin · JapanT Amano Trading · Vancouver →
2 tbsp
doubanjiang
Pixian chilli bean paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
3 tbsp
neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
douchi
fermented black beans, roughly chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
3 cloves
garlic
minced
Your own market
equivalent to 3 cloves garlic
fresh ginger
minced
Origin · New ZealandPurely Artisan Foods · San Diego →
100 g
ground pork
Your own market
1 tbsp
Shaoxing wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
200 ml
hot chicken stock
Your own market
For the slurry
1 tsp
cornstarch
dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water
Origin · ChinaWismettac · Vancouver →
2 tbsp
chilli oil
plus extra to finish
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tsp
Sichuan pepper
toasted, freshly ground
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
to taste
salt
for blanching water
Your own market

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

II

The Method

1
Bring a pan of salted water to a gentle simmer. Add the tofu cubes and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain carefully and reserve. The cubes should hold their shape and be uniformly heated through — the surface will appear just set.
2
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium-low heat. Add the doubanjiang and fry, stirring constantly, for 3–5 minutes. The dish lives or dies here: the paste must be cooked long enough and at the right temperature for the oil to turn a deep, translucent red and the raw fermented smell to mellow into a rounded, fragrant heat.
From the canon — Doubanjiang — the 'soul of Sichuan cuisine' — is a fermented paste of broad beans (fava beans) and chillies that is to Sichuan cooking what soy sauce is to J… Doubanjiang (Sichuan Fermented Bean Paste — Aged vs Fresh) →
3
Add the roughly chopped douchi. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until the black beans are fragrant and have absorbed the red-stained oil.
From the canon — Douchi (豆豉, fermented black beans) are soybeans that have been fermented in salt and dried, developing an intensely savoury, slightly pungent, deeply umami f… Douchi (豆豉) — Fermented Black Beans: Production and Use →
4
Add the minced garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until their raw sharpness gives way to a warm, aromatic bloom.
5
Add the ground pork. Break it up continuously against the wok. Cook until no pink remains and the meat has taken on the colour of the surrounding paste.
From the canon — The carbon-steel wok is the fundamental tool of Chinese cooking — not merely a frying pan but a cooking instrument whose specific properties (extreme thermal… The Wok: Seasoning, Maintenance, and Heat Management →
6
Add the Shaoxing wine and light soy sauce. Stir to combine. The sharp alcohol note from the wine should rise and begin to dissipate within seconds.
7
Pour in 200 ml of hot chicken stock and bring to a simmer. The liquid should be lively but not boiling hard — small, steady bubbles breaking the surface.
8
Slide the blanched tofu into the wok. Do not stir with a spoon; swirl the wok gently to move the tofu and coat it in the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. The tofu will absorb colour from the paste and the sauce will reduce slightly.
9
Add the cornstarch slurry in a thin stream, swirling the wok continuously. The sauce will tighten and cling to the tofu within 30–60 seconds; it should coat a spoon with a glossy, lightly bound consistency rather than pooling freely.
10
Add 2 tablespoons of chilli oil and stir gently to incorporate. The surface of the dish will take on an additional sheen of red.
11
Transfer immediately to a serving bowl. Scatter 1 teaspoon of freshly toasted and ground Sichuan pepper evenly over the surface, and finish with a further drizzle of chilli oil. Serve at once — the numbing tingle of the pepper should be perceptible from the first breath over the bowl.
From the canon — Sichuan pepper — hua jiao (flower pepper) — is not pepper at all but the dried husk of the berry of the prickly ash tree (Zanthoxylum simulans or Z. Sichuan Pepper (Hua Jiao): Toasting, Grinding, and the Ma Experience →
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — Pixian doubanjiang aged three years or more; hand-ground Sichuan pepper from the Hanyuan region, used the day it is ground; house-rendered lard in place of neutral oil.
02
Estate — Pixian doubanjiang from a named Sichuan producer; whole Sichuan peppercorns toasted and ground to order; good-quality homemade chicken stock.
03
Market — Reliable commercial doubanjiang; pre-ground Sichuan pepper bought fresh and stored away from light; good shop-bought fresh stock.
04
House — Any doubanjiang available; pre-ground Sichuan pepper from a sealed jar; water or light stock cube.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. Oil turns a deep, translucent red during the frying of doubanjiang — the primary production test.
◇Sight. Ground pork shows no trace of pink against the paste before stock is added.
◇Sight. Cornstarch slurry produces a sauce that coats and clings rather than pools in the base of the wok.
◇Smell. Sichuan pepper scattered at the table releases a citrus-floral numbing aroma that signals readiness to serve.
◇Where it lives or dies. The doubanjiang must be fried long enough in sufficient oil for the fat to turn a deep, clear red — without this transformation the dish's fundamental character, its layered heat and colour, does not exist.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Guilin Sanhua Baijiu (Three-Flower)
Guilin Sanhua · Guangdong
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Baijiu
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →

The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

T Amano Trading
Vancouver · silken tofu
→
Purely Artisan Foods
San Diego · fresh ginger, light soy sauce
→
Wismettac
Vancouver · cornstarch
→
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