mini mapo tofu meatballs

a meeting of mapo tofu and meatballs for your weeknight dinner plan

they might not looks super saucy, but i promise you they are!

it’s usually very evident to me where the inspiration for each one of my recipes comes from and i always share those tidbits here because i (for one?) find that background interesting and important in placing each recipe in context. when i sat down to write up this particular recipe however, i quickly realized that there was no real inspiration other than my great love for mapo tofu (which i make often with my friend Xueci Cheng’s recipe, one i now know by heart) and for meatballs (which i don’t make too often but always thoroughly enjoy from start to finish when i do).

that being said, i’m keeping this headnote short and sweet so you can get right to the recipe, which is one of my favorites of late. if you’ve never made mapo tofu before and don’t cook with silken or soft tofu often, this would actually make a nice first foray into the dish since it skips one of the potentially more frustrating parts of making mapo tofu, namely cubing and blanching the tofu.

the mini meatballs are made with a 50/50 ratio of ground pork and silken tofu, giving them a delicate texture that’s juicy, tender and ready to soak up sauce. while they may not seem all that small, the meatballs are certainly mini to me—about one big bite or two smaller bites each. this size allows them to cook quickly under the broiler (about 10 minutes) and gives them the ideal surface area so each bite is coated in plenty of glossy sauce.

if you want to keep the meatballs entirely meatless, i recommend using Lukas Volger’s recipe for charred scallion tofu meatballs or your favorite tofu meatball recipe, should you already have one. you could also buy plant-based ground beef to swap in for the pork or plant-based meatballs to cut out that step altogether, but where’s the fun in that?

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this time last year:

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mini mapo tofu meatballs

serves 2 - 4

for the meatballs

5 scallions

1 thumb-sized knob ginger

3 cloves garlic

300 grams ground pork (substitute: plant-based ground meat)

300 grams silken tofu

50 grams panko breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper (substitute: freshly ground black pepper)

for the mapo sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sichuan chili bean paste (Doubanjiang)

1 teaspoon chili flakes

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

250 milliliters water, plus 1 tablespoon

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

plenty of freshly ground sichuan peppercorn to taste

steamed rice for serving (i prefer short or medium grain here)

1. preheat broiler and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. trim and discard the root end of 5 scallions, then thinly slice, adding the greens to a small bowl for garnish and transferring the whites to a medium mixing bowl. peel 1 thumb-sized knob ginger and 3 garlic cloves and use a fine grater (i use either a micro plane or a japanese ginger grater) to grate them into a separate small bowl.

2. take 2 teaspoons of the ginger-garlic mixture and add to the bowl with the scallion whites. in the same bowl, add 300 grams ground pork, 300 grams drained silken tofu, 50 grams panko breadcrumbs, and 1 teaspoon each salt and white pepper. mix well with a hand until evenly combined, then use your hand as a paddle to stir the mixture clockwise until it forms a cohesive ball that more or less sticks to itself.

3. use your hands or an ice cream scoop (mine is 5 cm / 2 inches in diameter, or about 1.5 ounce portions) to portion out the meatballs onto a parchment lined baking sheet. once all the mixture is used, use your fingers to halve each scoop and roll each half into a ball, placing back on the baking sheet; you should get about 30 mini meatballs. transfer the baking sheet to the oven, about 5 inches from the broiler. set a timer for 8 minutes and start the sauce in the meantime.

4. add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to a dutch oven or pot set over medium-high heat. once hot, add the remaining grated garlic and ginger, 2 tablespoons sichuan chili bean paste and 1 teaspoon chili flakes. stir well until the bean paste starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, then add 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce and 250 milliliters water and stir to combine.

5. at this point, the meatballs should be cooked through. let them broil another 2 - 4 minutes until they start to brown slightly on top, then remove from the oven and turn off the broiler.

6. once the sauce is simmering and the meatballs are out of the oven, carefully add the meatballs to the sauce and stir to coat them in the sauce; the meatballs are delicate, so be gentle! after about 5 minutes of simmering the meatballs, mix 1 teaspoon cornstarch with remaining 1 tablespoon water together in a small bowl and add to the sauce. after another minute, once the sauce is bubbling up and thickened, turn off the heat and sprinkle generously with freshly ground sichuan peppercorn and all the reserved scallion greens. serve immediately with steamed rice and more sichuan pepper to taste.

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more from darn good:

bierstangerl loaf pan focaccia

crispy roast potatoes with toasted cumin and coriander butter

smoky, saucy fire roasted eggplant and bell pepper pasta

→ browse my full recipe archive here ←