I know what some of y’all are thinking. Tofu?!?!? No way in hell I am eating tofu. But before you completely turn your nose up at it, check out this Chinese Mapo Tofu recipe.

I made it a few weeks back and was impressed with how delicious it tasted and how easy it was to make. One of the keys to enjoying tofu is getting a texture/firmness that is to your liking. This recipe uses a firm tofu, a preference of mine, and one that can also stand up to the stir-fry cooking process without breaking apart.

All of the ingredients are super easy to find, and with the exception of maybe the bean sauce, they can all be found at Kroger. I purchased my bean sauce at K Oriental on Bowman for something like $4 a bottle.

Like most stir-fry recipes, the key is prepping all of your ingredients beforehand. Once that pan is piping hot, you better be ready to go. If you’re not a fan of ground pork, you can certainly substitute ground chicken or turkey … or even go vegetarian. I’ve made it both ways (meat/no meat) and was happy each time. This Mapo Tofu goes great over a pile of steamed rice.