Minced meat and cubed tofu in chili oil – a Chinese staple with complex taste, dominated by the unique aroma of freshly ground Sichuan peppercorns.
That’s some hot meat! And the food is pretty spicy, too.
A Patron, about to get punched
Too hot to handle?
When you hear “notoriously spicy dish from a notoriously spicy part of China”, you might be a little intimidated. However, I have good news: The spiciness can be easily tuned down, and the dish will still taste great. There are multiple ways to do this: First, not all Sichuan pepper is equally spicy, and neither are red chilies. However, you might not know where your ingredients land. Second: Discard (some of) the chili seeds when making the chili oil. Third: Decrease the amount of Doubanjiang (e.g. use 1 tsp instead of 1 tbsp). I tried discarding the chili seeds once, and the dish came out moderately spicy – maybe a 6/10. That being said, if you’re looking for 0/10 spiciness, you’ll need to cook something else.
There is a lot of minced meat in my recipe because I like it that way. To turn the recipe traditional, use about half the amount of meat, keeping in mind that the spiciness will be less diluted that way.
While the cooking process itself is very quick, the preparation takes some time. Finely chopping the ginger, garlic, and scallion is somewhat tedious. (If you use a hand blender for the ginger and/or a press for the garlic, I won’t tell anyone, although the results won’t be quite the same.) Plus, I recommend pre-measuring all ingredients so you can quickly toss them into the wok once the heat is on.
Speaking of woks, this recipe works fine in a large pan or flat-bottom wok on a countertop stove. You don’t need the heat of an open flame at any point for it to succeed perfectly.
Mapo Tofu
Equipment
- 1 pestle & mortar
Ingredients
- 500 g silken tofu
- 400 g ground pork
- 2 fresh red chilies hot
- 6 dried red chilies hot
- 2 stalks scallion
- 3 tbsp ginger
- 3 tbsp garlic
- 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 120 ml neutral oil
- 2 tbsp Doubanjiang
- 150 ml chicken broth
- 0.25 tsp toasted sesame oil optional
- 0.25 tsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp corn starch
- 60 ml water
- 4 servings rice on the side
Instructions
Prepare ingredients
- Dice the tofu into 2.5 cm large cubes.
- Finely chop the fresh and dried chilies and set aside together.(If you want to turn down the heat, discard the seeds.)
- Finely chop the scallions.
- Peel and finely dice the ginger and garlic.
- Finely grind the Sichuan peppercorns in your mortar.
- Stir the cornstarch into the water to create a slurry.
- Before you start cooking, make sure all ingredients are pre-measured and ready to go. Once the heat is on, things will move very fast.
- If you're going to eat rice on the side, wash and pop it into the rice cooker now.
Make chili oil
- Pour half the oil into a small saucepan and put on low heat.
- Add the chopped dried and fresh chilies. Keep stirring over low heat for a few minutes until fragrant. Be very careful not to burn them.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
Fry
- Heat the remaining half of the oil in your wok over medium heat for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the ginger and fry for 60 seconds.
- Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
- Add the ground pork and turn the heat up to high. Break it up with your spatula and fry until you see no more pink meat.
- Stir in the ground Sichuan peppercorns and fry for about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the Doubanjiang until it's well-integrated.
- Stir the chicken broth in next.
- Give the cornstarch slurry another stir and pour it into the wok. Mix well and let it thicken for a minute.
- Stir in the sugar, sesame oil, and the chili oil you made at the start (including the peppers).
- Carefully add and stir in the tofu. You do not want the cubes to fall apart, so be gentle. Let it simmer for 3-5 minutes.
- Finally, add the scallions and let it simmer for one more minute. If you like, reserve some to sprinkle over for serving.
- Distribute to bowls and serve with rice!
