rice again

Even tofu haters love Ma Po Tofu. Nearly everywhere you eat this dish it’s slightly different, because there are so many regional and family variations, and despite being a Sichuan dish it’s popular all over China where people have made slight adaptations to suit their collective pallets.

Here’s how I make it.

Ingredients:

• 500g Tofu, cubed (use soft tofu, not to lao/old which is coarser and harder)
• 100g ground pork
• 2 Tbsp peanut oil
• 2-3 Minced garlic cloves
• 1 Tsp minced ginger
• 2 Tsp ground Sichuan peppercorn
• Dried Sichuan chili pepper
• Chopped spring onions
• 1 Tbsp fermented black bean
• 2 Tbsp chili bean paste
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Cup of Chicken stock
• White sugar

1. Add oil to the wok and brown the pork.
2. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragrant. Then break the dried chili and add with the ground pepper corns and stir fry for 30 seconds or so.
3. Next add the bean paste and black bean and stir fry for about a minute until the flavors come out and the bean paste has coloured the other ingredients and the oil in your wok red.
4. Stir in the chicken stock and simmer for 30 seconds before adding the tofu cubes. Some stock powders and cubes contain a lot of salt, so if you’re using short cuts like me, be aware of the saltiness of the stock mixture before you add it lest your final result turns out a salty disaster.
5. Be careful not to stir the tofu too much as it breaks easily, though you can turn it over gentally or ladle the sauce over the top to ensure even coverage and that each and every bit soaks up all the flavours. (I have a shalowish wok so the tofu wasnt quite covered while it simmered in the sauce)
6. Add a pinch of sugar, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes but no longer than 10.
7. Add cornstarch mixture (2 tsp starch to 1 of warm water to thicken the sauce if still needed after simmering and garnish with spring onions.
8. Serve.