Korean-Style Mapo Tofu
Firm tofu and ground pork in a glossy, mildly spicy sauce made with gochujang and doenjang.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 13 min
Scale the recipe
Ingredients
- Firm tofu Weigh the tofu after draining its packing liquid.
- 300 g
- Ground pork
- 120 g
- Korean green onion (daepa)
- 25 g
- Neutral cooking oil
- 1 T
- Water
- 1 C
Seasonings
- Gochujang (Korean chili paste)
- 1 T
- Doenjang (Korean fermented soybean paste)
- 1/2 T
- Minced garlic
- 2/3 T
- Sugar
- 1/3 T
- Potato starch
- 1/2 T
- Cold water for the slurry
- 1 T
Level measures: 1 T (tablespoon) = 15 mL, 1 C (paper cup) = 180 mL. Household spoons and cups can vary in size.
Method
-
Cut the tofu and green onion
Cut the tofu 300 g into 2 cm cubes. Thinly slice the green onion 25 g, separating the white and green parts.
-
Brown the ground pork
Heat the oil 1 T in a skillet over medium heat. Add the ground pork 120 g and break it up as it cooks for 4–5 minutes.
-
Fry the scallion whites and pastes
Add the green onion whites, gochujang 1 T, doenjang 1/2 T and garlic 2/3 T. Stir for 1 minute.
-
Simmer with the tofu
Add water 1 C and sugar 1/3 T and bring to a boil. Add the tofu and green onion tops, then simmer over medium-low heat for 4–5 minutes. Check that a cluster of ground pork has reached 71°C.
-
Mix the starch with cold water
Mix potato starch 1/2 T with cold water 1 T.
-
Add the slurry and thicken the sauce
Stir it again and slowly pour into the skillet. Simmer for 1 minute, stirring around the sides to keep the tofu intact, until the sauce is glossy and lightly thickened.
