Ma-po tofu

Ma-po tofu is probably one of the first things anyone ordered from a Chinese restaurant. Yes, you know the one, the same time you ordered general tao chicken and chop suey. I can't say anything about the latter two but Ma-po tofu is actually a pretty classic Chinese dish. I used to have it as a kid, spicy and all. It's surprising easy to make, with ingredients that are found in your local Chinese grocery store. If you are thinking of trying more soy or tofu, this recipe is a great way to ease into it While there are many variations depending on region, I'm going to share with you the version I know and love.

"Ma-po" literally means "freckled grandma". What.. the... heck? How is that related? Well, in Chinese one character can also mean multiple things, "Ma" also can mean "numbing". Haha did I just made this worse and totally confusing? Numbing freckled grandma so far sounds no where near appetizing. Thanks for not unsubscribing thus far! Well the "numbing" is not a bad numbing, more of a flavor that is distinct to a special peppercorn that's indigenous to the province of Sichuan in China. Sichuan is also where my grandfather's from, shout out to grandpa! This type of peppercorn is not too spicy, but creates this tingling numbness in the mouth which is key to many Sichuan Chinese dishes. These peppercorns are reddish in color and not often ground up so you can certainly pick it out and not directly eat it. This ingredient is easy to find in China, not so much here in Canada. Lucky for me, there are plenty of pre-made sauces that I can get with this flavor in the local Asian markets. Today I'm going to use the pre-made sauce and cheat a bit. Want to read more about this cool peppercorn? Wikipedia "Sichuan peppercorn" and you can learn more about this tasty ingredient.

What you need:

- 1 pack of firm tofu (400-450g), cubed

- 2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced

- 1 cm ginger root, peeled and sliced

- 1-2 tbsp of cooking oil (vegetable or canola oil is fine)

- 1 large or 2 med tomatoes, cubed

- 1 sprig of green onion, chopped

- 1 sprig of cilantro, chopped

- any hot pot soup base, Sichuan flavored, 1-2 tbsp

- salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

- Cube the pack of firm tofu to 2 cm-ish cubes. Don't have to be perfect but roughly the same size.

- Heat up a pan on med-high heat, add oil, garlic, ginger to stir-fry a bit until fragrant. Add the hot-pot soup base and mix in with the oil mixture.

- Add your tofu cubes. Cover with lid, stir it around a bit, reduce to med heat, cook 3 min.

- Add the tomato cubes, cook with the tofu cubes, with lid off. Add salt and pepper as needed. Cook for another 3-5 min until tomato is mixed in and softened. It's quite key to get the juices from the tomatoes in the dish as they add a sour/sweet deliciousness to it.

- Add your green onion and cilantro at the end, mix it in when you are able to plate the tofu. So these stay basically uncooked and raw. Don't over cook these. 

- Voila and ready to eat.

Notes:

- Use FIRM tofu. I know there are many types of tofu in the supermarket from various soft to firmness. Getting the firm type is key. The soft type is good for hotpot, or maybe desserts. But the soft ones will for sure fall apart in this dish. The firm ones are more hearty - they have a stronger soy texture and taste, can withstand the stirring and tumbling in the pan and will soak up the flavor a bit more.

- Sichuan hotpot paste. The brand of these really don't matter. It's like buying green Thai chili paste, it's more or less the same thing with very small variations in flavor. You do have to get it from an Asian grocery store as this is not typically found in my local Metro or Wholefoods. This stuff can be a harder block (as there's often animal fats/lard in the ingredients) sealed in a plastic. It can also be a bit runnier, sold in a container, with lot of red oil and solid bits at the bottom. I find it's more or less the same. The common ingredient is the Sichuan peppercorn, and actual spicy peppers. All other flavoring can have some more or less garlic but won't be a deal breaker. This stuff also lasts a long time, I just keep a jar of this stuff around and use it on anything I want a bit of this spicy/numbing flavor.

- Skip cilantro if you hate it.

- Serve with rice, or rice replacements. Obviously we used to eat this with rice. Rice is such a staple in Chinese cuisine, when in doubt, rice! But I get if you don't have rice or want to mix it up a bit, you can literally have this tofu dish wish any carb-y rice replacement. The reason I say this is that this dish is fairly spicy and salty and not meant to be eaten alone. If you have something that can cut the spicy or mop of the liquids, it's a-go. Over the years, in addition to rice I've had this dish with the following: pasta, quinoa, potatoes, and bread. So you see, what ever floats your boat. Today I had mine with quinoa.

There you have it, stop by the Asian grocery store and get some of this awesome sauce to make this classic Chinese dish.