Once you heard of tofu, it is usually associated with a bland food made from bean curd. It is healthy food but unappetizing. All that changes with this tasty Ma Po Tofu dish.
Ma Po Tofu gives a spicy and savoury flavour to tofu that goes well with a bowl of hot rice. It is an easy and quick recipe to prepare. It is usually cooked with pork which gives it a whole different flavour. The levels of spiciness differ depending on the preferences of the consumer.
Ma Po Tofu originated from Sichuan Province, which is famous for its spicy Sichuan pepper. The pepper is not only aromatic but also gives a ‘numbing’ effect to the tongue. Although it’s spicy, the addictive taste of the sauce makes people come back for more.
As it is a quick dish to prepare, all the ingredients should be prepared before you start cooking. Soft tofu does not take long to cook. Thus, you can easily toss in one ingredient after another if you made preparations of the ingredients in advance.
Make this tender and spicy tofu dish to enjoy with a steaming bowl of rice. You can adjust the spiciness to your preferences.
Ingredients (3 servings):
- 400 g of soft tofu (drained and cut into cubes)
- ½ cup of low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tsp of potato starch
- 1 tsp of sesame oil
- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp of fermented black bean (roughly chopped)
- 2 tbsp of doubanjiang (spiced fermented black bean)
- 1 tsp of ground Sichuan pepper
- 50 g of scallions (use the white part only, minced)
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1-inch ginger (minced)
- 150 g of ground pork
Directions:
- First, prepare the tofu. Boil 2 cups of water with 1 tsp of salt then add tofu. Let it cook for 1 minute and then drain it well. Put the boiled tofu aside.
- Mix the low-sodium chicken broth, potato starch and sesame oil. Put the mixture aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan under medium heat. Stir-fry the Sichuan pepper and fermented black bean until they become fragrant. Add doubanjiang and continue to stir-fry until the oil turns red. It usually only takes a few seconds.
- Add the white parts of scallion, garlic and ginger. Continue to stir-fry them together until fragrant.
- Add the ground pork and stir fry again while breaking it up to smaller pieces. Next, add in the chicken broth mixture and let it boil until it thickens.
- Add the cooked tofu and gently coat them evenly in the mixture.
- Serve the Ma Po Tofu and garnished it with the green parts of the scallion if desired.
