Ground Pork Mapo Tofu

Ground pork Mapo Tofu is one of the easiest meals to cook at home. It is even easier if you know what package or mix to buy. Sometimes you are in a hurry, sometimes you don’t have the time, and sometimes you don’t have all the ingredients. I think that is where knowing what packages and what brands taste the best to you is worth it. For me, mapo tofu is one of those dishes. Add in Ground pork, tofu, and some green onions (or peas), and you are rocking a fine meal for dinner on a weeknight. Serve this over some steam rice, and you have a tasty dinner. It beats or meets take out, and you save yourself probably about 30 minutes driving to and from the restaurant.

There are a ton of mapo recipes, with chilis and black bean sauce, but when I grew up I’m pretty sure we ate it from a mix. And you know what I’m totally fine with that. I don’t normally cook with dried chilis of different varieties and having them stored in my fridge just isn’t worth it for one dinner. This is my go-to dinner if I have 15 minutes and steam rice in the rice cooker. Along with Japanese curry, which I also use a mix for, this mapo tofu mix is a must have in the pantry. The package lasts forever, and as a general asian cooking rule you should always have soft tofu in your fridge. That way all you have to do is add ground pork to your grocery list and you are good to go.

Tips for cooking Ground Pork Mapo Tofu

1. Buy the mix – My favorite mix to get is House Foods Mapo Tofu mix, pick what spiciness you want. I go with Medium Hot or Mild, and I started with Mild back in the day.
2. Soft Tofu – You want the tofu soft, not medium, and not firm. Come to think of it, if you don’t have soft tofu then I probably wouldn’t make this dish. If you aren’t sure what tofu to buy, I prefer the House Foods brand of tofu.
3. Green garnish – You don’t really need chopped green onions or peas, but they do make the dish look nicer.

What to eat with Mapo Tofu

1. Steam rice – Always, always, always, eat mapo tofu over steam rice.
2. Green vegetables – Mapo tofu is good to mix with steamed broccoli. If you have the time then Crispy Garlic stir-fried Green Beans are perfect with mapo tofu too.

If you like to eat tofu as much as we like to eat tofu then the dishes we like are Kitsune Udon and Tonjiru. They are both Japanese soups that utilize tofu and fried tofu!

Ground Pork Mapo Tofu

Ground pork mapo tofu is one of my favorite weeknight dinners. It is savory and super flavorful with ground pork, tofu, and a spicy black bean sauce.

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Servings 4

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Equipment

• Non-stick Pan

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb Ground pork
• 1 package House Foods Mapo Tofu mix
• 1 package Soft tofu
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil

Instructions

 

• Get Ingredients.
  
• Cut your tofu in cubes. I make 4 cuts along the short side, 5 cuts along the wide side, and 1 cut in the middle along the height.
  
• Add 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in the pan. Put your 1 lb of ground pork in the non-stick pan and brown the meat for 5-7 minutes.
  
• Add the House Foods Mapo Tofu mix to the ground pork and mix. Then add your tofu to the ground pork and mix.
  
• Put your heat on medium heat and cook for another 5 minutes to heat up the tofu.
  
• If you have the green onions then you can put them on top. I also sometimes put peas in this dish too. If you are going to put frozen peas in then I would add them at the same time you put the tofu in.
  

Keyword green onions, ground pork, tofu

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