Some days, you absolutely must make dinner from a box.
The reason why almost doesnāt matter, because it really could be anything. Youāre tired! Youāre hungry! Itās a global pandemic and youāve spent the better part of 28 days in the exact same spot on the couch, such that the cushions are beginning to morph around your body! I have a special corner of my pantry for exactly these moments, stocked at all times with a collection of my favorite shelf-stable comfort foods that come together in an instant.
The starting line-up hasnāt changed much since collegeāAnnie's White Shells (iconic), Tasty Bite Madras Lentils (surprisingly great)ābut a relatively recent addition has weaseled its way into the top spot. House Foods Mabo Tofu in āHOTā is the best pre-made mapo on the market, and Iām rationing my last remaining box like itās a bag of all-purpose flour.
Mapo tofu is a beloved Sichuan dish consisting of soft tofu and ground meat in a spicy, tingly sauce, thickened with fermented black and broad beans. Making a simplified version from scratch isnāt very difficult; many recipes call for a scoop of jarred black bean garlic sauce, which is easy to find at Asian markets and many well-stocked grocery stores. But the House Foods box (which contains a silvery pouch of sauce) makes creating the dish at home even easier still. Like any good instant food, it requires just two additional ingredients: one package of tofu, and a bit of ground meat. You brown the meat, add the sauce, add the tofu, and simmer. In the same amount of time it takes to cook a pot of rice, you have a comforting dinner.
Some notes, from a House Foods Mabo Tofu aficionado: pork is the move, and twice as much as the package calls for, to get the correct ratio of protein to sauce. āHotā is also the best bet, even if youāre spice averse; the mild and medium varieties are pretty meh, and hot doesnāt get anywhere near the level of heat you might expect from a Sichuan restaurant, but itās flavorful, complex, and aromaticāmuch more so than I ever expected the first time I sloshed it out of the pouch and into a frying pan of pork. You could add extrasāvegetables, chili oil, a sprinkling of scallions at the endābut you definitely don't need to. The magic here is a meat- and tofu-spiked sauce that you did almost nothing to prepare, soaking into a bowl of fluffy rice.
āMaboā is the Japanese spelling of āmapo,ā because while mapo tofu is a Chinese dish, House Foods is a Japanese company. You might recognize their script logo from tofu containers and shirataki noodle bags; theyāre a trusted name in the Japanese ingredient market, which is what originally convinced me to sample packaged mapo in the first place. Turns out instant Japanese-style Sichuan food is the mashup I didnāt know I needed, and it has done a lot to sustain me on Box For Dinner nights (and mornings) since it came into my life. While the package says it serves four, I consider this more of a hazy guideline; of course, if you do have leftovers, thatās a little like hitting the House Foods jackpot. It is, if possible, even better the next day.
