Things & Stuff

Ma Po Tofu Recipe - Shared from Asian Green (pg. 107) by Ching He Huang

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp cornflour
• 1 Tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 ½ cm piece of fresh root ginger, ely grated (fin)
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 200g fine French beans, trimmed and sliced into (7oz)
• 1 cm rounds ( 1/2in)
• 200g firm tofu, drained and sliced into 1.5cm ( 3/4in) cubes (7oz)
• 1 Tbsp chilli bean paste
• 1 Tbsp Shaosing rice wine or dry sherry
• 200 ml cold vegetable stock (7fl oz)
• 1 Tbsp tamari or low-sodium light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Chinkiang black rice vineger large pinch of toasted ground Sichuan pepper, to garnish
• 2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced, to garnish

Steps:

1. Before you begin, mix the cornflour with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl or cup to make a slurry. Set aside until needed.
2. Add garlic, ginger & chillis to hot oil and stir fry for a few seconds. Add the green beans, stir fry for a few seconds, then add the tofu and cook, tossing, for a few more seconds
3. Push the ingredients to one side of the wok. Add the chilli bean sauce and rice wine / sherry to the other side of the wok and cook for a few secs
4. Add the veg stock, stir everything to combine, and bring to the boil. Season with light soy sauce and black rice vinegar. Pour in the cornflour slurry and stir to thicken the sauce
5. serve!