Maya Sari
This recipe is a beautiful fusion of Chinese and Japanese cuisine.
These are two rich and spicy flavors merging — the ones of a Mapo Tofu with the comfort of tasty vermicelli noodles.
The inspiration for this dish was from a very special dinner from a hidden small restaurant that is known for creative fusion dishes.
It was a revelation: spicy, savory tofu and perfectly cooked noodles. With this, I just knew this was something I was going to remake at home.
This dish wasn’t just fast and straightforward to prepare at full of flavor and good nutrients as well. This is an ideal way to satisfy a weekday dinner.
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Ingredients:
- Vermicelli
- 180 g soft tofu, cubed
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinese brood bean paste or just chili oil
- 1 tbsp Chili Oil or paprika powder
- 1 cup vegetarian stock
- Cornstarch slurry: 1 tsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water
- Coriander leaves or spring onions for garnish
Instructions:
- Soaked the vermicelli with warm water for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
2. Add vegetable oil over medium-high in a large pan or wok. Add the minced garlic and mushroom, sauté until fragrant.
3. Add doubanjiang paste, oyster sauce and chili oil or paprika powder; stir it well. Then, dd stock.
4. Add in cubed tofu, taking great care not to break the pieces, and cook a few minutes. Then, add vermicelli and cover it. Cook until the noodles soft.
5. Add cornstarch slurry and stir until thickening of the sauce becomes thick.
6. Mapo Tofu noodles is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves or spring greens.
Tips:
Mapo Tofu: Something about using soft tofu makes this whole thing melt in your mouth. You can go ahead and do it, but trust someone who has done it. You’ll want to at least try it once this way with soft tofu to say you have.
Vermicelli Noodles: These are some of the thickest, chewiest noodles out there, so good for slurping up all that savory sauce. You can substitute this with other noodles, maybe some ramen or even spaghetti if you can’t find vermicelli. You can substitute it with any other nut oil, such as almond or even sunflower.
Oyster Sauce: It adds another level of depth to the dish by adding umami. Of course, you can substitute it with light soy sauce if one does not have oyster sauce or runs out of it.
Use Stock: This brings the dish much more flavor than water would. Usually, I would use low-salt chicken stock, but vegetable stock also works fine.
Cornstarch Slurry: This is to thicken the sauce to a just-correctly-luscious-and-glossy finish.
Conclusion:
Get ready for a recipe for Mapo Tofu Pasta with Chili Oil that always hits that sweet spot in the middle of spicy and umami and brings some seriously needed excitement to dinner.
Not too bad, not too difficult to make. Enjoy!
Mapo Tofu Noodles with Chili oil
Ingredients
- Vermicelli
- 180 g tofu, cubed
- Shitake mushroom
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- Salt to taste
- Sugar to taste
- 1 tbsp chili oil
- 2 coriander leaves or scallions for garnish
Instructions
- Soaked the vermicelli with warm water for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
- Add vegetable oil over medium-high in a large pan or wok. Add the minced garlic and mushroom, sauté until fragrant.
- Add doubanjiang paste, oyster sauce and chili oil or paprika powder; stir it well. Then, add stock.
- Add in cubed tofu, taking great care not to break the pieces, and cook a few minutes. Then, add vermicelli and cover it. Cook until the noodles soft.
- Add cornstarch slurry and stir until thickening of the sauce becomes thick.
- Mapo Tofu noodles is ready to serve. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves or spring greens.
