Ma Po Tofu

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. ground pork or lamb or chicken or even beef

Season meat with Salt & Pepper (white pepper if you have it), fennel seeds, 1 star anise seed... or chinese 5 spice even

1 pack silken tofu, cut into ~1" cubes (32 pieces)

1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp minced ginger

1 Tbsp peanut oil

Options: sliced mushrooms, w/ shaoxing deglaze - dried chilis

Sauce:

1 Tbsp fermented black beans, mashed

1-2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sambal

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 tsp sugar

(most all recipes call for 2 tbsp chili bean paste- feel free)

Optionals- splash of oyster sauce, tsp of mirin, Tbsp of miso

Thickener:

2 tsp cold water

1tsp cornstarch

Garnish:

2-3 green onion stalks, sliced (white parts get added w/ garlic/ginger)

1 tsp ground schezuan peppercorns

squirt of garlic chili oil

Cook Tofu first. Boil some water and add tofu cubes, cook for 2 minutes so hot and lets sit.

Drain just before adding to main part of dish.

(you could even just add the cubes to the pot, fill with cold water to cover and bring to a boil while cooking the rest if your timing is good)

Heat wok to medium high and add seasoned ground meat. I actually don't even use oil as the meat is fatty enough to cook without sticking (drain fat if too much cooks off).

Cook 3-4 minutes, then add mushrooms if using, deglazing with 1 Tbsp of shaoxing for 30 seconds.

Push meat to back half of wok and add some oil to the front, allow a few seconds to heat before adding garlic/ginger/white parts of green onion. 30 seconds, then mix all and pour in sauce and bring to a boil.

Add cornstarch slurry thickener a little at a time, stirring constantly, and bring barely back to a boil, add tofu and gently stir while turning off heat.

Dump into a serving dish and top with garnish of ground schezuan and sliced green onions or even garlic chili oil squirt.

Serve with white rice.

Cut block of tofu into sections of 4x4, after having already cut in half heightwise

All ingredients are prepped

After cooking ground meat, add garlic/ginger/onion, then add sauce

Add cornstarch slurry to thicken before finally adding tofu

Stir gently to bring it all together