This Sichuan classic is one of the most famous Chinese dishes and is rated for its balance of spicey and aromatic flavours. Here we serve the lick-your-lips mapo sauce covered tofu with crunchy cauliflower and healthy brown rice. Try something new!
Serves
Scaled from the card's 2-serving amounts and rounded to measurable quantities.
Ingredients
The figure beside each ingredient is its energy for the amount shown, and the bar is its share of the dish — so it is easy to see which one or two are actually carrying the calories if you fancy a substitution.
🧂 Spices & Seasoning
🥬 Fruit & Vegetables
🥩 Meat & Protein
- 220g Tofu 317kcal
🍜 Grains & Noodles
- 200ml Brown rice 579kcal
🏠 From your kitchen
- Olive oil
- Cooking oil
- Salt & pepper
- Water
Raw ingredient energy · 2 servings
| Ingredients on the card, at raw weight | 540 kcal |
| Cooking oil for frying estimated
7ml per person — the steps say “a drizzle” |
+57 kcal |
| Per person, including the oil | 597 kcal |
| Whole dish, raw ingredients | 1080 kcal / 731g |
Raw weights on purpose: cooking changes what a dish weighs — rice absorbs water, meat renders fat — which moves energy per 100g without changing what you ate. Costing the ingredients you were given is the stable number, and it scales with the serving size above.
Method
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Boil a full kettle of water. Drain the tofu and dice into bite sized cubes. Put the tofu in a bowl and cover with very hot water (not boiling) and allow it to cook. Set aside.
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Place your brown rice in a pot, submerge well in boiling water and add some salt. Bring to a simmer until cooked, about 22-25 minutes. Taste to test and add further water should it be required. Drain and season on completion.
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Place a wok or a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add a generous drizzle of cooking oil. Roughly dice up your cauliflower. When your pan is hot, add the cauliflower and cook until golden and softened, shifting it occasionally but allowing it to get nicely charred, about 6 minutes. Season well and remove from the pan. Don't wash this pan just yet.
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In the meantime, peel and grate your ginger and garlic. Thinly slice your spring onion. Dilute your Corn Flour & Stock with 100ml boiling water.
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Return your wok/pan to low-medium heat. Add a generous splash of cooking oil. When hot, add the Chili Bean Paste and cook, stirring for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook together, for 1-2 minutes. Then add the stock and let it bubble for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
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Gently lift your tofu out the water, leaving the water behind. You can either use a slotted spoon or pour the tofu gently into a sieve. Add all the tofu to the sauce, followed by the cauliflower and gently turn it over until everything is coated. Stir in the spring onions (save some for garnish).
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Dish up your rice. Spoon the tofu & cauliflower over the rice. Sprinkle with spring onion and you are ready to serve.
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