Sunday, March 07, 2010

Mapo Tofu

After all the festive eating it is time for some simple home cooked dish. Tofu is pretty bland and I always find way to boost up its flavor when I cook them. I learned about Mapo tofu dish only when I came here to the US. Mapo tofu is a famous dish in the Chinese restaurant here. It's a well-known dish from the Sichuan province of China. This dish is actually easy to make at home.

Ingredients:

1 block of soft (not silken) tofu – drained and cut into ¾” cubes
1 chicken breast – finely chopped (ground pork or beef)
2 cloves of garlic – chopped
1” ginger – finely grated
½ cup of chicken broth + ½ tsp of cornstarch
2 tbsp of hot bean paste
2 tsbp of soy sauce
½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder
½ tsp sesame oil.
Some thinly sliced green onions (garnish)
1 red chili - cut into small cubes (garnish)
Salt to taste

1. Heat up about 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or frying pan. Stir fry the meat until no longer pink. Add in the garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragrant. It will take about 2 minutes.
2. Lower down the heat and add in the hot bean paste, stir fry for a minute and add in the chicken stock. Add in the soy sauce, tofu and bring it up to simmer. Check seasoning.
3. Turn off the heat and add in the sesame oil and Sichuan peppercorn powder. Stir gently until well mixed.
4. Dish out and garnish with chili and spring onions.

P/s I will be flying back to the US today. See you back there.

17 comments:

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

Looks delicious!! Have a safe trip back, Gert.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Ya, this is simple and yummy. Have a safe trip back to US. Looking forward to see more posts from you in US.

Eva. said...

Sounds easy and delicious! But what to do with the tofu? Do you heat it up in the sauce?

Noob Cook said...

this is one of my fave dishes with rice. bon voyage!

Zurin said...

that is a very pretty dish! I must ttry...its so simple and sounds delicious! hope u enjoyed ur stay here ^^

Kitchen Corner said...

Urhh.. I love tofu, I can eat everyday still feeling want to eat it... :P This one looks really tasty and make me mouth watering although I just have some tofu an hour ago.

Jo said...

I love tofu and this is such a fantastic dish. Hope you had a great CNY back in KL.

Ed Schenk said...

I love this dish. There are also versions made in Korea and Japan. I have had the Japanese version. It's very much a comfort food for me!

Swee San said...

Have a safe trip back and hope to see u back in M'sia again :)

mycookinghut said...

Love tofu...
Have a safe trip home.

ann low said...

This is one of my family fav!
I'm sure you're back home by now, take more rest after the long distance flight :D

MaryMoh said...

Looks delicious. This is my family favourite....spicy and great with rice...yum

Cheah said...

This is real comfort food. Have a safe and pleasant flight home!

Pei-Lin said...

I ain't a big fan of Sichuan cuisine, though I don't mind eating it. But then, ma po tofu is my fave out of all Sichuan dishes!!! Yours looks so damn good!!

Back in PA now? Hope all is well with you and your family there! Stay warm ... Think spring is on its way!

Pete said...

Mapo taufu is nice, my favourite dish!

ICook4Fun said...

Ladies, thank you very much. Arrived safely and now trying to get over the jetlag. Hope to see some of you again soon :)

ChiliCrab, sorry for the mistake. I already made changes to it.

Pete, mine too :)

tigerfish said...

Love mapo tofu. So nice to have that with steamed rice.

BTW, I tried one of your recipes and just posted it up in my blog :)