Recipe: Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

(Click on the image above to view the photoset of 5 pictures) Recently, a male colleague of mine asked me for the recipe of Ma Po Tofu/麻婆豆腐. He has just gotten into cooking--thanks to my influence and this blog--and wished to try making Ma Po Tofu at home. I was psyched by the idea of teaching a novice home cook with my secret recipe; good recipes are meant to be shared. I went through the laundry list of ingredients with him and explained in great length the cooking process. I wanted to make sure he did it right. But it turned out that he finally ditched the idea of making Ma Po Tofu from scratch. It was too complicated and troublesome, he said. He bought a packet of instant Mo Po Tofu mix instead. I was disappointed. Is Ma Po Tofu/麻婆豆腐 so hard to make at home? Does the long list of ingredients appear intimidating to a novice home cook? I asked myself. The answer is--unfortunately--yes. Making a plate of Mo Po Tofu that oozes the signature mala/麻辣 (numbing spiciness) flavor without losing its originality is not easy. I learned my recipe from a Sichuan friend, the birthplace of this famed and popular Chinese dish. My friend's mother attended the Sichuan Culinary Institute at Chengdu, so this recipe is as authentic as it can be. The recipe is not for the faint-hearted, it's lip-smackingly spicy and downright incendiary (think Angelina Jolie's lips after eating this!) BEE-STUNG SWOLLEN LIPS ARE IN, but please consider yourself warned. ;) Related Recipes: 30-Minute Meal: Steamed Tofu with Ground Pork Chinese Recipe: Szechuan Wok-fried Chicken Sichuan-style Crawfish/Crayfish/Crawdad (麻辣小龙虾) To check out my Chinese recipes, please click here. Recipe: Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐) Ingredients: 1 block silken tofu (19 oz box) 1/4 lb ground pork 3 tablespoons Sichuan spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱) 2 tablespoons chili powder 2 tablespoons cooking oil 3 tablespoons chili oil 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (roasted and ground to powder) 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 teaspoon fermented black beans (rinsed and pounded) 2 stalks of leeks or scallions (chopped into 1 or 2-inch length) 2 gloves garlic (chopped) 1/2 cup water Salt to taste Method: Cut the tofu into small pieces, drain the water from the tofu and set aside. Heat up a wok and pour in the cooking oil and chili oil. Add the chopped garlic, ground pork, spicy bean paste and stir-fry until the pork is half-done. Then add in chili powder, soy sauce, fermented black beans and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the tofu and water; stir gently to blend the tofu (don't break them) well with the sauce. Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-5 mins or until the sauce thickens. Add in the roasted Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions. Gently stir and blend well. Dish out and serve hot. Cook's notes: To tone down the numbing spiciness of this dish, use less roasted sichuan peppercorn powder, chili powder, and chili oil. Adjust them to fit your palate. Mo Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐) literally means "Pock-Marked Old Lady Tofu" (I know!). You can read about the origin of this dish here. The Ma Po Tofu served at Chinese restaurants in the US has been adapted to appeal to local taste--the level of numbing spiciness is largely toned down.