Easiest Way to Cook Perfect Vegan Mapo Tofu

Vegan Mapo Tofu. Learn how to Lose Weight while Still Eating your Favorite Foods. Mapo tofu is a justly popular menu item in many Chinese restaurants. It is a quickly cooked dish of braised tofu with minced pork (sometimes beef) in a bracing spicy sauce made with fermented black.

Vegan Mapo Tofu is a delicious Sichuan dish of soft, silken tofu and shiitake in a gloriously rich, spicy and slightly tingly sauce. Simply perfect over a bed of rice. Or any other grain like quinoa, millet, whatever you fancy. You can have Vegan Mapo Tofu using 20 ingredients and 10 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Vegan Mapo Tofu

1. It's of For the Sauce:.
2. You need 3 tbsp. of Gochujang OR.
3. Prepare 1 tbsp. of each Fermented Bean Paste and Fermented Chili Paste.
4. It's 1 tbsp. of Mirin or other sweet cooking wine.
5. You need 2 tbsp. of Rice Wine Vinegar.
6. It's 2 tbsp. of Soy sauce.
7. You need 1/2 cup of Vegetable or other Stock.
8. It's of For the Tofu:.
9. You need 1 tbsp. of Coconut Oil.
10. You need 1/2 cup of minced fresh Shiitake Mushrooms OR.
11. Prepare 1/2 cup of dried Shiitake Mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water for 10 min. and rinsed.
12. Prepare 1/2 cup of chopped Green Onions, white and green parts separated.
13. Prepare 3-4 cloves of minced Garlic.
14. Prepare 1-2 tbsp. of minced Ginger.
15. You need 2-3 of dried Chili Peppers, any variety OR.
16. You need 2-3 tbsp. of Red Pepper Flakes.
17. You need 1 package of Firm or Extra Firm Tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
18. You need 1 tbsp. of Corn Starch dissolved in 1-2 tbsp. water.
19. Prepare 1/2 tbsp. of Sesame Oil (optional).
20. Prepare 1-2 tbsp. of Sesame or Caraway Seeds for garnish (optional).

Shiitake mushroom is one of the key ingredient for vegan stocks because of the large group of amino acid. Usually mapo tofu is cooked with minced pork or sometimes with beef. I make this vegetarian version so that the vegetarian foods can also enjoy it. However I replace the meat part with chopped shitake mushrooms.

Vegan Mapo Tofu instructions

1. Bring 3-4 cups of water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Slide in the chopped tofu and simmer for 10 minutes..
2. Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside..
3. While the tofu cooks, sauté the garlic, ginger, and the whites of the onions over medium-high heat until fragrant (1-2 minutes)..
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan and continue cooking until soft..
5. Once the mushrooms are done, add the sauce mixture to the pan and bring to a simmer..
6. Strain the poached tofu and gently fold it into the sauce..
7. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring frequently to prevent burning..
8. Gently stir in the corn starch and sesame oil, and cook until the sauce becomes thick and shiny (3-5 minutes)..
9. Serve over white rice or plain greek yogurt..
10. Granish with the green parts of the onions, and sesame or caraway seeds (optional)..

Both versions contain leeks, garlic and ginger but herein lies the biggest difference; the meat version uses water or chicken broth while vegan mapo tofu uses mushroom broth. What this means is that the vegan sauce has twice the umami power plus a layer of earthiness that its meaty cousin doesn't have. Combine dried mushrooms and kombu (if using) in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup and cover with water. Place a paper towel or kitchen towel directly on surface of water to keep mushrooms mostly submerged. Typically, mapo tofu is made with ground pork.