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Mapo Tofu with Chicken

A spicy tofu and chicken dish with sesame oil, chili flakes, ginger, garlic, tomato paste, soy sauce, and broth.

By Health Canada · From Canada's Food Guide · 12 ingredients
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Mapo Tofu with Chicken

Why it works: Sesame and tofu match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 250 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mapo Tofu with Chicken

Serves 6

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Heat sesame oil in a large pan over medium heat.

  2. Add red chili flakes and toast for a few seconds.

  3. Add ground chicken to the pan and cook until browned.

  4. Stir in ginger and garlic and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

  5. Mix in tomato paste, soy sauce, and vegetable broth.

  6. Let the mixture simmer to reduce by half.

  7. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water.

  8. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the sauce.

  9. Simmer on low heat for 2 minutes; the sauce will slightly thicken.

Add tofu and serve

  1. Gently stir in tofu and green onions.

  2. Cook for 5 minutes until the tofu has just warmed through.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

949Calories
57 gProtein
24 gFat
125 gCarbs

Counts 11 of 12 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chicken100g cooked165
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Tofu100g firm76
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Waternot 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.

By Health Canada. Recipe from Canada's Food Guide.

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. Sesame + tofutop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together250 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Sesame + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,192 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Sesame + gingertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground chicken
Provides the main protein and savory meaty base of the sauce.
Cornstarch
Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it a glossy, clinging body.
Tofu
Adds soft texture and absorbs the flavor of the sauce.
Tomato paste
Adds concentrated savory depth and a little color to the sauce.
Soy sauce
Contributes salty, savory flavor and depth to the sauce.
Sesame oil
Carries fat-soluble aromas from the chili and fries the chicken in a fragrant base.

The step that matters

Adding the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch must be stirred into liquid and simmered briefly so its starch granules swell and thicken the sauce. Adding it to a bubbling sauce while stirring well helps prevent lumps, and under-simmering leaves the sauce thin.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sesame, chicken, garlic, tomato, sauce, tofu, onion):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Gingerthe original
  3. Corianderfits about as well
  4. Turmericfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sesame, chicken, garlic, tomato, sauce, tofu, onion. 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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