How to make vegetarian mapo tofu – who needs meat when you have mushrooms? They add all the rich texture you need

Like a lot of people, I am making the effort to eat less meat, especially when dining at home. I’ve never cooked with mock meat, but where I can, I substitute the original protein-rich vegetarian staple of bean curd and mushrooms.

Vegetarian mapo tofu

Mapo tofu was easy to convert into a vegetarian/vegan version, because the original dish had only a scant amount of meat in the first place. I actually prefer mapo tofu without meat, because mushrooms add so much texture.

Use at least two types of mushroom – most of which should have thick stems (I like king oyster mushrooms). Thinner mushrooms – such as cordycep flowers or enoki – should be added towards the end of the cooking process.

This recipe is adapted from one by Sze King-chun, who was chef at an excellent Sichuan restaurant, Bistro Jinli (now closed), in Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong. The original recipe was published in my first cookbook, A Celebration of Food (2012). If you have home-made vegetarian stock in your fridge or freezer, use that instead of the stock made with a vegetarian dashi bag.

Doubanjiang is Sichuan chilli bean sauce or paste. For the chilli powder, if possible, use the type made of Tianjin chillies. You will need to adjust the amount of chilli powder, peppercorn chilli oil and chilli oil to suit your tastes.

Ingredients

• 15 grams (½ oz) fermented black beans

• 1 vegetarian dashi bag

• 1-2 Japanese or Chinese leeks, about 150 grams (5⅓ oz)

• 325 grams (11 ½ oz) fresh mushrooms, at least two types

• 5 grams (3 ½ tsp) Sichuan peppercorns

• 60 grams (2 oz) Sichuan chilli bean sauce or paste (doubanjiang)

• 5 grams (1 tbsp and ½ tsp) chilli powder, preferably Tianjin chilli powder

• 15ml (1 tbsp) light soy sauce

• 15ml (1 tbsp) dark soy sauce

• 15ml (1 tbsp) sesame oil

• 10ml (2 tsp) peppercorn chilli oil

• 10 grams (scant 2 tbsp) cornstarch

• 15ml (1 tbsp) Chinese chilli oil, or to taste

• 450 grams (1 lb) medium-firm bean curd

• 10ml (2 tsp) cooking oil

• 1-2 spring onions