Ma Po Tofu

Tofu is one of my favorite dishes. It can be a great substitute for meats in many recipes.  Tofu is also well-known a highly nutritional. It can exceed the nutritional values of meats, and can be processed so that it can be created in various textures, and flavors.

At Cilantro, we serve Ma Po Tofu (vegetarian style). It's a well-known dish from the Sichuan province of China with very strong hot and spicy flavored.  I love to have it with plain steam rice and stir-fried veggies.

Here is the recipe…with minor changes. (Source: http://shiokfood.com/notes/archives/cat_recipes.html)

Ingredients:

Firm Tofu - 200 gm
Fried tofu (minced) - about 75 gm
Chilli bean paste - 1.5 tbsp
Peanut oil - 3 tbsp
Fermented black beans - 2 tsp
Whole Sichuan red chillies - 6-10, depending on your chilli tolerance
Vegetable stock (unsalted) - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 large pinch
Light soy sauce - 1 tsp
Cornflour - 2 tsp mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
Sichuan peppercorns (ground) - 1/4 tsp
Spring onions (scallions) - chopped - 2 tbsp

Directions:

Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.

Heat a wok on high heat.
Add the oil.
Add the minced fried tofu and stir-fry for about a minute on high heat.

With a spatula, move the tofu to one side of the wok so the oil can drain back into the middle of the wok. Turn the heat down to medium.
Now add the chili bean paste and stir-fry for 30 seconds. The oil should turn red.
Add the fermented black beans and red chilies and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
The oil should have a nice smell from all this seasoning.

Add the vegetable stock and stir it in. Then gently add the cut tofu to the liquid. Don't stir-fry this too much or the tofu could break apart. Try to hold the pan by its long handle and gently shake it back and forth.

Add the sugar and light soy sauce. Turn the heat down and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes.

Depending on how thick the sauce is at this stage, stir in some of the corn flour-water mixture and turn up the heat to medium. The sauce should start to thicken. Add more of the mixture and cook till the sauce has the consistency slightly more runny than tomato ketchup. 

Stop the cooking at this stage, add the spring onions and mix.

Empty the dish into a hot bowl. Scatter with the powdered Sichuan peppercorns and serve.