16.255 Taste Test: Chao Chai Mapa Dubu

Cycle 16 – Item 255

POST 5,734

17 (Wed) September 2025

Taste Test: Chao Chai Mapa Dubu

3.0

by me

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with W

Chao Chai is a new line of Chineseish sauce bases by Korean food producer Sempio.  Just for fun, I conducted a side-by-side-by-side taste test of 3 variations on mapa dubu.

Whereas the English names of the products all include the term “style,” the Korean names are different across the 3 products: “Sichuan (as is)” / “Hanguk Pung (Korean Form)” / “Hong Kong Sik (Hong Kong Style)” – not important per se, just odd.

According to the instructions, each sauce requires the addition of oil + ground pork + minced scallions + dubu + corn starch.  The ingredients were weighed to ensure consistency.

Also added minced enoki mushrooms and cilantro for garnish (not weighed).

The sauces were prepared simultaneously in the same kind of cooking vessel on the same heat setting, with separate spatulas to avoid crossover.

Cooking time = 6 minutes.

While they tasted kinda the same, each had a distinct flavor profile up front.  Sichuan = mala + spicy, Korean = oyster sauce + sweet, Hong Kong = doubanjiang (Hong Kong i.e. Cantonese cuisine isn’t really associated with this condiment) + umami.  Overall, I found the Hong Kong to be the most balanced, the Sichuan most authentic, and the Korean neither here nor there.  In the end, we mixed the three sauces together, which was superior to any of them individually.

Soft tofu – more on that next time.

Mapa in general is very easy and quick to make from scratch, so these packages don’t provide much of a shortcut for anyone already familiar with cooking the dish.

(See RESTAURANTS IN KOREA)

(See GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See HANSIK)

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