Pantry Raid: Ma Po Tofu

Getting under the hood of a Sichuan favorite

My Pantry Raid series is meant to shed light on meals you can make (and make well) based on things you likely have in your fridge and cupboards. The approach, which I use frequently here, is to break down the function of each ingredient so that you can make informed substitutions and still end up in the same zip code as the dish you’re trying to make. This understanding is essential in learning to really cook—using experience and intuition to prepare excellent food without the training wheels that recipes provide. In other words, real cooking, in the moment, open to the possibilities, exigencies, and ingredients that a given day brings.

I have a longtime affection for ma po tofu, going all the way back to my vegetarian years when it was by far the most interesting option for me on most Chinese menus. I have made it many, many times over the years, and as I whipped up the batch in the photo the other day—my first meal home after a week away, in a kitchen not overburdened with groceries—it occurred to me that it’s an excellent illustration of this make-do-with-what-you’ve-got ethos.

So let’s dive in and see how all the pieces fit together, so you can bang out a persuasive interpretation of this classic that makes you sigh with contentment and earns you the undying love and admiration of the people you make it for. Conjuring a dish like this after a brief cupboard rummage and a few minutes of prep gets pretty close to magician territory. And fear not—if your pantry is light on Sichuan-specific ingredients, you can find everything you need in the Things on Bread Buying Guide.