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Mapo Tofu

A spicy Sichuan dish of tofu with minced meat, chili bean paste, and Szechuan pepper.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mapo Tofu

Serves 2
Time5–10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. If using dried mushrooms, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients, then slice before adding later.

Cook

  1. Sauté onion with ginger and crushed chili.

  2. Add minced meat and garlic, and fry until brown.

  3. Mix in other ingredients (including sliced mushrooms), lower heat, and simmer for 5–10 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve over steamed jasmine rice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

900Calories
71 gProtein
35 gFat
68 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pork100g cooked242
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Tofu100g firm76
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Szechuan Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Beannot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Ginger + garlictop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,402 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Minced beef or pork
Browns to add savoury depth and a meaty body to the sauce.
Silken tofu
Provides a soft, delicate texture that absorbs the sauce while staying tender.
Chili bean paste (la doubanjiang)
Supplies salty, fermented heat and a deep red colour that defines the sauce.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that mellows and sweetens as it cooks in the oil.

The step that matters

Frying the minced meat until brown. Browning the meat through over direct heat builds savoury flavour through the Maillard reaction. Crowding the pan or stirring too early makes it steam and turn grey, leaving the sauce flat.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, ginger, pepper, beef, garlic, tofu, sauce):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Corianderfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, ginger, pepper, beef, garlic, tofu, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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