Mapo Tofu Inspired Tteok

This recipe marrying Chinese and Korean ingredients almost feels like it’s been a slow, 34 years in the making, at least my part of it. I grew up frequenting a local Chinese and Korean restaurant, and later I was introduced to mapo tofu and tteokbokki and, later still, their non-authentic combination. After honestly years of trial and error, it finally feels good enough to share.

If you haven’t tried mapo tofu or tteokbokki, I recommend starting with traditional versions for context. This tteokbokki from Maangchi and this mapo tofu from Red House Spice are great places to start. Then, please try this recipe—I think it’s worth the time it took to perfect, and I hope you will too.

The Story

The Ingredients

Notes -

Green Vegetable: Great options are broccoli, bok choy, tatsoi, yu choy, gai lan, green or napa cabbage, or similar. (Cabbage and similar greens will not need to be divided into stems and greens.)

Chili crisp: Look for a chili oil or chili crisp that has solids and isn't just the clear, red oil. Lao Gan Ma's spicy chili crisp is ubiquitous, but there are many other amazing brands out there.

Sichuan peppercorns: The quality and pungency can vary greatly, so start small if you're not sure what you're dealing with. I often use less than recipes call for because these from The Spice House are very high quality and therefore INTENSE! I toast mine in a dry frying pan until fragrant and put them in a small, dedicated peppermill, but you can use a motor and pestle or spice grinder instead.

To make vegetarian and vegan: Replace the oyster sauce with vegetarian oyster sauce.

The Recipe

makes 4 large servings

Ingredients

• about 6 cups (600g-ish) quick-cooking green leafy vegetable, cut into large chunks. Divide stems from leaves/broccoli tops if applicable. (See note)
• 1 pack extra firm, silken tofu, cut into 1" cubes
• 6 scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced, and dark green parts cut into 1 inch pieces, divided
• 3 TB doubanjiang
• 3 TB oyster sauce
• 4 TB soy sauce
• 2 TB shao xing wine
• 5 TB chili crisp (See note)
• 1 inch ginger, finely grated or minced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced
• 1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth, or water with bouillon (according to package directions)
• 2 lb pack of cylindrical tteok (Korean rice cakes)
• Toasted and ground Sichuan peppercorns, to taste (See note)
• Salt (for optionally boiling of the tofu)
• Neutral high smoke point oil, for frying (avocado, safflower, sunflower, etc.)

To Make

1. Fry the greens

Heat a large wok or frying pan over very high heat until gently smoking and set a medium bowl off to the side. Add a good glug of neutral oil and swirl to coat. Add the stems of the greens and cook, tossing frequently until slightly softened, about 1-2 minutes. Add the leaves or broccoli tops, and continue to toss frequently until greens are slightly wilted with a few spots of charring. Add a drizzle of additional oil if you hear crackling or nothing instead of sizzling. After about 2-3 minutes, remove from the wok and set aside in the medium bowl.

2. Boil the tofu (optional)

Boiling the tofu in salt water makes it less fragile. Sometimes I skip this step if I am tired and don't mind the tofu breaking apart in the dish. If you choose to, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt heavily. Lower the heat to a simmer and add the tofu. You don't want the tofu jostling around and breaking apart. Cook without stirring for about 5 minutes, drain very gently, and add tofu to the bowl with the veggies.

3. Saucey time

Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, shao xing wine, chili oil, grated ginger, and grated garlic to a small bowl and mix well.

4. Cook it allllll together

Heat the wok again, this time over medium/medium-low heat, and add another swirl of oil. Then add the scallion whites and cook for about 30 seconds before adding the doubanjiang. Stir constantly until the doubanjiang has noticeably darkened in color without burning, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. If there is a lot of sticking, turn the heat down.

Add the sauce mixture and allow to bubble for about 1 minute or until you start to smell the garlic and ginger, then add broth, tteok (beware: remove the silica desiccant packet!!), and a few grinds of Sichuan peppercorns. Cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the tteok are very soft all the way through. I suggest testing a few by cutting through them with a wooden spoon to make sure they are all truly soft. This will likely take about 6-8 minutes.

Once the tteok are soft, add the veggies, tofu, and scallion greens, and cook, stirring ever so gently so as not to break the tofu, until the tofu is warmed through and the sauce is thickened to your liking, about 2 minutes. The starch released from the tteok will thicken the sauce - add a splash of water if it gets too thick. As before, turn down the heat if it starts to stick.

6. To serve & store

Serve: Immediately, with a few more grinds of Sichuan peppercorn on top, if you like (I do!).

Storage: Mapo tofu changes a bit if it's refrigerated as the flavors meld together, but I don't personally mind. I find it stores well for 3-4 days in the fridge tightly covered. The tteok will get hard again in the fridge, so I suggest warming a portion up on the stove in a small pot with as many splashes of water as needed to prevent sticking, until the tteok are very soft again.

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I hope you make and enjoy this recipe!

Thank you for being here!

💖, Katrina

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