Szechuan Spicy Bean Curd

A few months ago I acquired a copy of . I’ve had a few Chinese cookbooks over the years but I’ve never thought that any of them really captured what I was looking for.  I love greasy, Americanized Chinese food.  I freely admit it, nothing to be ashamed of.  Beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, honey garlic ribs, fried rice – you name it, I love it.

Home Cooking does a great job of covering the more Chinese-American dishes as well as some overlooked traditional Chinese dishes.  I’ve made a few recipes out of this book and have been mostly happy.  The recipe for Szechuan Spicy Bean Curd is my fave!

I first came across this recipe under the name “Ma Po Tofu”.  It was probably 3 years ago and Buddakan was just opening in New York and I remember reading a review that raved about their Ma Po Tofu.  At this point I hadn’t even heard of the dish which I later learned is made of ground pork and tofu.  It sounded right up my alley!  I like tofu to begin with and enjoy pork even more.  Together the combination sounded unstoppable AND very affordable which is a bonus.

Let me just say, this dish is one of my favourite home-cooked meals EVER.  Yes, I said it, EVER.  Even my mom likes it and she a.) doesn’t really eat tofu, b.) doesn’t really eat pork and c.) doesn’t like Chinese food.  I know I’m building this up a lot but just bear with me.  The dish turns into a spicy, saucy combination of browned ground pork and soft tofu.  The flavours just meld together deliciously.  Chen also has a lot of great finishing touches.  The sprinkle of green onions and touch of sesame oil at the end was perfect.

I made a few substitutions as usual.  Hot bean paste?  I don’t have it.  Instead I used black bean paste.  Freshly ground Szechuan peppercorns?  I just used fresly ground pepper. And  instead of Chinese Chicken Broth I used regular low-sodium chicken broth.  Nothing too major.

The dish looks kind of gross but trust me it tastes and great and smells amazing while cooking.  The recipe says that you can use beef but I don’t find that appealing at all.

Rating: *****(out of 5)

Szechuan Spicy Bean Curd

1 pound soft tofu (bean curd)
2 tablespoons hot bean paste
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon grated peeled gingerroot
2 teaspoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
3 tablespoons canola, corn or peanut oil
1/2 cup ground pork or beef (4 ounces)
1 cup Chinese Chicken Broth or water
2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scalions
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

1. Drain te tofu and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Set aside. Stir the hot bean paste, garlic, gingerroot, sherry, and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside. Combine the red pepper and ground peppercorns together in another small dish. Set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or stir-fry pan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Stir fry the ground meat until it separates into small pieces. Add the hot bean sauce mixture and stir a few times. Add the broth or water and pepper mixture and stir a few times to mix. Add the tofu. Stir gently to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 5 to 6 minutes to reduce the liquid by about a quarter.

3. Add the cornstarch slurry and stir until the sauce is thickened. Pour onto a serving platter and sprinkle with scallions and sesame seed oil. Serve hot.

(From Helen Chen’s Chinese Home Cooking)