Mapo Tofu

What you need

Ingredients

Measured for 3 servings.

• 450 gFirm Tofu
• 100 gMinced Beef
• 7.5 mlSesame Seed Oil
• 20 gDoubanjiang
• 7 gFermented Black Beans
• 6 gRed pepper flakes
• 2.5 gSalt
• 1 gSichuan pepper
• 15 mlSoy Sauce
• 400 mlWater
• 30 mlOlive Oil
• 30 gScallions
• 10 gGarlic
• 5 gFresh Ginger
• 10 gCornstarch

Make it

Method

1. 01

   Drain 450 g firm tofu and cut into roughly 2 cm cubes. Finely chop 10 g garlic and 5 g fresh ginger; slice 30 g scallions, keeping the pale and green parts separate. Chop 20 g doubanjiang and 7 g fermented black beans. Stir 10 g cornstarch into 30 ml of the measured 400 ml cold water to make a smooth slurry; keep the remaining 370 ml ready.

2. 02

   Heat the measured 30 ml olive oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat. Brown the 100 g minced beef for about 4–5 minutes, breaking it into small pieces, until the center reaches 71°C. Move beef to a plate. Lower the heat, fry the doubanjiang for 1 minute in the pan oil until fragrant, then stir in the fermented beans, pale scallion parts, garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add 6 g red pepper flakes at the end of this stage so they do not scorch.

3. 03

   Pour in the reserved 370 ml water and 15 ml soy sauce; return the beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Slide in tofu and cook 6–8 minutes, nudging rather than stirring hard. Stir the cornstarch slurry again and pour it in gradually; simmer 1–2 minutes until the sauce lightly coats the tofu. Taste before adding up to 2.5 g salt, because doubanjiang and soy sauce are already salty. Turn off the heat, drizzle with 7.5 ml sesame oil and sprinkle with 1 g ground Sichuan pepper and the scallion greens. Divide into three; rice is an optional extra not included in these macros.