Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Ingredients

• 6-10 dry red chillies (soaked in hot water)
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 fresh bird’s-eye chillies
• A small handful of coriander
• 300g firm silken tofu (fresh or packaged tofu are both fine to use)
• 2 teaspoons preserved black beans (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
• 200g pork mince
• 2 tablespoons oil

The Marinade

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• A pinch of granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce

The Sauce

• 2 teaspoons chilli bean paste or hot chilli paste
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons rice wine
• 1 tbsp Gochujang Korean Pepper paste
• 400ml chicken stock

Cornstarch Paste

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons water

Instructions

Preparation

1. Dice the onion. Finely chop the garlic, bird’s-eye chillies and coriander. Cut the silken tofu into 2cm cubes. Do not chop up the dried red chillies unless you want the dish to be extremely spicy.
2. Wash and drain the preserved black beans, place them in a sealable plastic bag with the Sichuan peppercorns and bash them with a rolling pin until lightly crushed. OR crush them with pre-crushed Sichuan peppercorns.
3. Place the meat in a bowl, add the marinade ingredients and massage together well with your hands. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Cooking

1. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium-high heat until smoking-hot.
2. Add the onion to the pan and stir-fry for 1 minute until the onions are lightly browned and starting to soften.
3. Add the garlic, black bean and peppercorn mix and chilli to the pan, followed immediately by the marinated pork. Stir-fry for a further 2 minutes, until the pork mince is separated and browned, then pour over the sauce and bring to a vigorous boil.
4. Add cornstarch paste gradually until you get the desired thickness of the sauce
5. Add the diced tofu to the wok, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring gently so as not to break up the tofu pieces too much. Continue to bubble away until the sauce has thickened and reduced by a third, but the dish is still nice and brothy. Remove from the heat.
6. Serve in a large bowl and scatter over the finely chopped coriander to garnish.