Tofu with Ground Pork

Soft tofu in a thickened chilli bean sauce, the pork used as a seasoning rather than a filling.

Pork, Tofu. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 600 g silken or soft tofu, in 2.5 cm cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt, for the blanching water
• 150 g pork mince
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chilli bean paste
• 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed and crushed
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger, chopped
• 300 ml hot water or light stock
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornflour mixed with 3 tablespoons cold water
• 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
• 3 spring onions, sliced

Method

1. Lower the tofu cubes into salted water held just below a simmer and leave them 3 minutes, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. This firms them just enough to be moved later, and it is the difference between cubes and a mush.
2. Fry the pork in the oil over a high heat until it is dry and the grains separate, 4 minutes. It is doing the job of a seasoning here, so it needs to be properly browned rather than merely cooked.
3. Turn the heat down, add the chilli bean paste and crushed beans, and fry 60 seconds until the oil runs red.
4. Add the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds, then the water and soy sauce, and bring it to a simmer.
5. Slide the tofu in and DO NOT STIR IT. Push it gently with the back of a spoon or shake the pan. Simmer 4 minutes.
6. Add the cornflour slurry in two halves, shaking the pan between them, until the sauce is thick enough to cling to the cubes rather than pool under them.
7. Take it off the heat, scatter the ground peppercorns and spring onions over. The peppercorns go on at the END — cooked in, the numbing quality cooks off and only the bitterness is left.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes