We partnered with Spicy Element to bring you this post. Enjoy! (As always on The Woks of Life, all opinions are our own.)
We’ll always be the first ones to promote the value of homemade over store-bought! But sometimes, time is just not on your side, and you need a shortcut. Sometimes, ya gotta cheat.
Instead of roasting the chicken from scratch, you buy a rotisserie chicken. Rather than slave over tomato sauce, why be a stranger to the excellent jars of marinara available out there? And yes, sometimes, just as we reach for our familiar jars of store-bought bean pastes, chili sauces, and jarred pickled vegetables, we’ve found that using store-bought mapo tofu sauce is not actually as sacrilegious as you may think.
In fact, if you don’t have the energy to make the real mapo tofu (though if you do, we highly recommend checking out our homemade mapo tofu recipe, a pre-made spice packet for mapo tofu is the quickest way to get that restaurant-style look and flavor! The sauce in question is in Spicy Element’s Shengchubao Mapo Tofu packet, which is packed with all the flavor, spice, and chili goodness you’d expect from your favorite restaurant. Add a little ground pork, some ginger, and garlic, and BAM! MAPO. And a really, really, really good one at that.
Since trying it, we’ve even speculated that some of our favorite Chinese restaurants just may be hiding a tub of pre-made mapo tofu sauce somewhere next to the wok! It’s that good.
(But we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now…)
So yeah, maybe using this pre-made mapo tofu packet makes you a little bit of a cheater. But to all who say, “cheater, cheater pumpkin eater,” I say, who cares? Because that side of pumpkin comes with a delicious, hot plate of spicy, flavorful Mapo Tofu.
If you’d like to try out this particular brand for yourself, we worked with the folks over at Spicy Element to give you a 20% discount on the sauce used in this post. Just click on this link to Spicy Element’s Mapo Tofu sauce and when checking out, use the exclusive discount code, “MAPO” and enjoy!
If you feel adventurous and want to try their entire Sichuan sauce collection, check out the Spicy Element Shengchubao 6 in 1 Sichuan Cooking Sauce Set, and when checking out, enter the discount code, “WOKSOFLIFE!”
You’ll need:
- 6 ounces ground pork
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 5 cloves garlic
- 7 oz. (200g) mapo tofu sauce packet (We used Spicy Element’s Shengchubao Mapo Tofu sauce)
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- 2 boxes silken tofu (you can also use soft or firm tofu if you prefer)
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (optional)
In a wok over medium-high heat, brown the pork, breaking it up with a wooden spatula. When the pork is cooked through, add the ginger and garlic, and stir-fry until lightly crisped.
Next, add the contents of the mapo tofu packet, and stir to combine. If you’re only cooking one box of tofu, you can use half of it and save the other half for another day.
Turn the heat up to high, add the water, and bring to a boil.
While that’s happening, cut your tofu into large 1½-inch cubes and add to the wok.
Stir gently to combine the tofu into the sauce. A folding motion works well to avoid breaking up the tofu.
Add the cornstarch and water and cook until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy, coating the spatula.
Simmer for one more minute.
Serve immediately with scallions and Sichuan Peppercorn powder on top and plenty of white rice, and relish the time saved by your shortcut!
- 6 ounces ground pork
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 5 cloves garlic
- 7 oz. (200g) mapo tofu sauce packet (We used Spicy Element’s Shengchubao Mapo Tofu Sauce)
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
- 2 boxes silken tofu (you can also use soft or firm tofu if you prefer)
- 1 scallion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (optional)
- In a wok over medium-high heat, brown the pork, breaking it up with a wooden spatula. When the pork is cooked through, add the ginger and garlic, and stir-fry until lightly crisped. Next, add the contents of the seasoning packet, and stir to combine. If you’re only cooking one box of tofu, you can use half of it and save the other half for another day.
- Turn the heat up to high, add the water, and bring to a boil.
- While that’s happening, cut your tofu into large 1½-inch cubes and add to the wok. Stir gently to combine. A folding motion works well to avoid breaking up the tofu.
- Add the cornstarch slurry and cook until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy, coating the spatula.
- Simmer for one more minute, and serve immediately with scallions and the Sichuan peppercorn powder on top and plenty of white rice, and relish the time saved by your shortcut!
janet peters says
question? If you use one box of tofu, what about the amounts for the other ingredients? Do you halve them?
Thanks, Jan
Kaitlin says
Hi Janet, yes you should halve them. But if you are okay with less tofu and more sauce, you only need to halve the amount of sauce you use from the Spicy Element sauce packet. Hope that helps, and sorry we didn’t see this comment sooner!
Apicio says
It is not the cheating that offends, it is the gradual accommodation to shortcuts. Once your palate gets used to its taste and your busy schedule become reliant on the ease of preparation, you have unknowingly changed your perception and remembrance of the dish. You won’t even realize it has become your standard too. That’s what happened to kids who find macaroni and cheese made from real cheese quaint tasting. Internet presence costs and has to be paid for. So there’s that and I understand.
Kaitlin says
Hi Apicio, totally valid point, and I definitely have found that to be the case with certain foods. Your mac n cheese example is spot on. Luckily, at the end of the day, we still find time to make our “real deal” mapo, and folks who are more committed to the true thing can find the recipe and step-by-step there. :)
Allen-Paul Templet says
Hi- You guys produce one of my favorite food blogs… The “WOKSOFLIFE!” discount code isn’t working on the collection- any chance you could contact them and have this fixed? Thanks!
Allen-Paul Templet says
Just figured it out: No “!” , Only “Woksoflife”… Cheers.
Kaitlin says
Sorry about that, Allen-Paul! We’ll fix that now.
Lyn says
Thanks for thinking of your readers who don’t live in cities where obscure asian ingredients are readily available. Your disclaimer couldn’t have been more obvious. Your blog is always a pleasure to read and your photos always make me drool!
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Lyn!!!
Alan Sommerman says
Very disappointed that you published this. Essentially the packet contains some oil and the equivalent of sichuan chili bean paste. What time is saved? You still have to cut the bean curd, garlic and ginger. Mapo is one of my favorite things to cook because it is a continuous recipe – nothing ever comes out of the wok, just add one ingredient after the other.
Kaitlin says
Hi Alan, sorry you feel that way! this recipe is intended to be a shortcut for folks who don’t have the time to invest in the full recipe. While this version of mapo tofu most definitely is still semi-homemade (e.g., with the fresh pork, ginger, etc.), there’s definitely less legwork than our original “real deal” mapo tofu recipe–i.e., grinding sichuan peppercorns (which are optional here), making chili oil from scratch, and shopping for the ingredients that may be harder to find (i.e., spicy chili bean paste, peppercorns, and chili peppers). If you’re a fan of making mapo tofu from scratch, we obviously love that too! Thanks for reading, and cooking.
Cecilia says
Wow!! It looks so fiery. Also I have to admit I am a cheater as I use a lot of commercially prepared sauces.
Kaitlin says
Hi Cecilia, thank you! Sometimes, it’s the way to go ;)
AD says
I sure hope my favourite Scechuan restaurnt is not using this mix. Have you read the ingredients list of the sauce packet?
Kaitlin says
Hi AD, we actually just today ate at our favorite Sichuan restaurant and verified that they indeed do make their mapo tofu from scratch :) As for the ingredients, you can find the full list on the link to Spicy Element’s website in the post. With any pre-prepared foods it does come with a longer list of ingredients, but as with any favorite food, our philosophy is everything in moderation! Cheers.
MP says
The disclaimer was the second thing I read after the title! People need to read more thoroughly before jumping to the wrong conclusions.
Anyway. Mapo Tofu is one of my all time favourite dishes. I’m definitely going to try this. Thanks.
Kaitlin says
Thank you, MP! hope you enjoy it :)
Brooks Li says
Good post! Clear step by step instructions
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Brooks!
xx says
love the blog but please add a disclaimer when posting sponsored content. http://bloggylaw.com/blogger-disclosure-examples-tips/
Tina says
There *is* a disclaimer. Right under the main image, in Italics: “We partnered with Spicy Element to bring you this post. Enjoy! (As always on The Woks of Life, all opinions are our own.)”
I think that’s pretty clear that this is a sponsored post.