Sichuan Mapo Tofu (V)
YIELD : 2 servings ( or 2 people )
TIME : 15 Minutes
TASTE: Savory
COOKING METHOD: Chinese stir-fry
SKILL: Entry-level
DESCRIPTION: This is a very popular dish and It was orginated from Chengdu, Sichuan in China. There are vegan and non-vegan versions of this dish. The traditional non-vegan version is to add ground beef in cooking. You can serve it with rice or plain noodles. Click here to read history and story about this dish.
INGREDIENTS:
Fresh Tofu - 400g ( tofu of your choice - silken or firm )
Ground Beef - 30g ( optional )
CONDIMENTS:
Cooking Oil - 2 TBSP ( oil of your choice - canola oil or olive oil )
Garlic - 3 Cloves
Fermented Bean Chili Paste ( Douban Jiang )- 2 TBSP
Corn Starch - 1 TBSP
Green Scallion - 1 stalk ( optional )
Ground Sichuan peppercorn - 2 TSP
STEPS:
STEP 1 : Prepare all of the ingredients - mince the garlic cloves, chop the scallion stalk ( optional ), chop the fermented bean chili paste to be more refined ( optional ) and ground the Sichuan peppercorns. Wash and cut the tofu into small cubes within 3 inches per piece. Add 1/2 cup of cold water to the corn starch, stir evenly and put it aside.
STEP 2 : Add 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add the cubed tofu into the hot boiling water and cook for about 1 minute. String the tofu cubes and put them aside.
STEP 3 : Heat up a frying pan at mid-high temperature ( adjust the heat as needed ) and add cooking oil of your choice. Add minced garlic, and fermented bean chili paste; Pan fry them all together with a spatula for about 10 secconds. Add ground beef to the pan and stir-fry for another 10 seconds ( optional )
STEP 4 : Add the cubed tofu pieces to the pan and fry them all together gently with a spatular ( the movement should be in two directions repeatedly, do not stir ) for about 10 seconds. Add half of the evenly mixed corn starch water to the pan and keep fry them gently with the spatula ( do not stir ). Add another 1/2 cup of cold water to rest of the corn starch water and mix evenly. Add half of that starch water to the pan and keep pan-frying gently for about 10 seconds. Add rest of the starch water and keep frying ( do not stir ) with the spatula until you see the red chili juice in the pan was curdling up ( about another 5 -7 seconds). Turn off the heat and plate the dish.
STEP 4 : Sprinkle ground Sichuan peppercorn and granish with chopped scallion green ( optional ).