[wpseo_breadcrumb]
Mapo Tofu
Author: Cee Gee
Nutrition Information
- Serves: 4
- Serving size: 200g
- Calories: 428
- Fat: 29 g
- Saturated fat: 3 grams
- Unsaturated fat: 20 grams
- Carbohydrates: 10 grams
- Sugar: 4 grams
- Sodium: 946 mg
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Protein: 19 grams
Recipe type: Gluten free
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
This dish is in the top ten most popular dishes in Chinese cooking. It is typical of food that comes from the Sichuan region where Sichuan pepper and Chillies are combined for mouth-numbing flavour. Indeed when you eat this dish, your mouth will go pleasantly tingling . This numbing sensation is from a compound in Sichuan peppers that has this effect on the tongue and lips. It is a sensation that is very popular in Sichuan, where they like their food to be really spicy.
Ingredients
- Firm Tofu – 400 grams
- Minced beef – 100 grams
- Pickled ginger – 15 grams
- Pickled red Chillies – 20 grams
- Spring onions – three
- Garlic -one clove
- Tamari sauce – one tablespoon
- Dried Red Chillies – 10 grams ( use Chaotianjiao Chillis if you can find them).
- Sichuan peppercorns – ½ tablespoon ( coarsely ground)
- Rapeseed oil – ¼ of a cup ( can be substituted by any vegetable oil)
- Doubanjiang – 1. 5 tablespoons
- Fermented black beans – ½ tablespoon
- Salt – 1 teaspoon
- Sugar – one teaspoon
- Black pepper – a quarter of a teaspoon
- Corn starch – one tablespoon
Instructions
- Place the dried Chillies in a grinder. Grind into fine flakes
- Finely chop the pickled garlic and Chillies
- Chop two spring onions along the stem into 4mm pieces
- Finely slice the garlic
- Cut the Tofu into bite-sized chunks
- Add three cups of water in a wok or pan. Bring it to a medium heat
- Once the water is heated, add the Tofu and ½ teaspoon of salt. Let in cook for about a minute. Until the water starts boiling
- Remove the Tofu from the stove and drain it in a colander
- Season the mince with half a teaspoon of salt and the black pepper
- Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a wok. Add the dried Chillies and Sichaun peppercornS. Fry until fragrant, and then remove from the heat. Remove fried Chillies from the wok and keep to one side
- Clean the wok and dry it. Place it back on the stove
- Heat the remaining oil to medium heat.
- Add the garlic and two spring onions. Fry it for about a minute. Be careful not to burn the garlic
- Add the mince and cook it until it has dried and all traces of pinkness have gone.
- Add the Doubanjian. Stir it into the meat
- Now add the chopped pickled Chilli, ginger and fermented bean paste.
- Fry for about a minute on medium heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic
- Add half of the fried dried Chilli and Sichuan pepper flake that were previously kept to one side
- Mix well and add a cup and half of water. Stir well
- Add the sugar
- Now add the Tofu. Boil in the liquid for about five minutes. You are looking to infuse the chilli sauce into the Tofu and make it soft
- Mix the cornstarch with a bit of water and mix into a paste the consistency of cream.
- Add the starch to the dish. Stir until the sauce starts thickening.
- Garnish with remaining Chill and the remaining spring onion finely chopped.
- Serve with rice
Notes
This recipe yields 4 portions
The compound in Sichan pepper that causes numbness is called Hydroxy alpha sanshool . It provides a pleasant tingling sensation
Keywords: Mapo Tofu
Image credit: Bing / CC BY NC SA 2.0 / via Flickr
The compound in Sichan pepper that causes numbness is called Hydroxy alpha sanshool . It provides a pleasant tingling sensation
Keywords: Mapo Tofu
Image credit: Bing / CC BY NC SA 2.0 / via Flickr
