Step 1

Heat up a large skillet or a pan over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil, garlic, and ginger, stirring with a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes until the garlic turns light brown and crispy and the oil smells fragrant.Add the pork, kosher salt, and ground black pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring with the wooden spoon until the pork turns a little crunchy.Stir in hot pepper flakes for about 30 seconds until it bubbles and smells a little smoky.Add the onion, green chili pepper, and green onion. Stir for 1 minute until the vegetables turn slightly withered.Stir in soy sauce and hot pepper paste.Add 1 cup chicken broth and cook for about 2 minutes until vigorously boiling.Add the tofu cubes and gently mix with a wooden spoon, careful not to break up the tofu. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until the tofu turns soft.While the tofu is cooking, combine the rest of the ¼ cup chicken broth and potato starch in a small bowl and mix it well. Add it to the boiling mapo tofu and gently stir it in with a wooden spoon to thicken the sauce.Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil.Transfer to a large shallow bowl. Serve with rice, kimchi, and a few more side dishes.

Step 2

jillzee NY joined 12/20 & has 2 commentsPosted January 28th, 2021 at 7:17 pm | Log in to reply. This was fantastic! I love “normal” mapo tofu, and was excited to try your version, Maangchi. It was delicious and easy. I did not have a full pound of tofu, so I made up the rest of the amount with white mushrooms and loved them in there. Thank you so much for sharing this with us! Nayko france joined 10/18 & has 26 commentsPosted January 5th, 2021 at 12:29 pm | Log in to reply. I’m such a big fan of this dish in its original Szechuan version that it’s gonna be difficult for me to cook it in an other version…But I’m also a big fan of Korean recipes so… I’ll let you know how it ends ;) a_westervelt Portland OR USA joined 10/20 & has 7 commentsPosted December 3rd, 2020 at 8:19 am | Log in to reply. This was so yummy! I replaced the beef with cremini mushrooms and I used vegetarian friendly “beef” broth. Easy dish to make on a work night and no unusual ingredients that I needed to make a special trip to the Korean market. I highly recommend this recipe. Thanks again, Maangchi!! See full size image