Mapo Tofu

From Serious Eats with a few substitutions and/or suggestions for substitutions.

Ingredients

(substitutions marked with *)

• 2 tablespoons sichuan peppercorns, divided (I have successfully substituted black peppercorn)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons cold water
• 1 1/2 pounds medium to firm silken tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/4 pound ground beef (we actually used 12 oz. of Impossible Burger)
• 3 garlic cloves grated on a microplane grater
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated on a microplane grater
• *1/2 tablespoon black bean garlic sauce
• 2 tablespoons Xiaxing wine (I have successfully substituted red wine)
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable scrap stock
• *1/4 cup Lao gan ma spicy chili crisp or 1/4 cup oil from Fly by Jing sichuan chili crisp
• 1/4 cup finely sliced scallion greens

Process

1. Heat half (1 tablespoon) of peppercorns in a large wok over high heat until lightly smoking. Blend to a fine grind in spice grinder.
2. Add remaining peppercorns and vegetable oil to wok. Heat over medium high heat until lightly sizzling, about 1 1/2 minutes. Pick up peppercorns with a wire mesh skimmer and discard, leaving oil in pan.
3. Combine corn starch and cold water in a small bowl and mix with a fork until homogenous. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat and add tofu. Cook for 1 minute. Drain in a colander, being careful not to break up the tofu.
4. Heat oil in wok over high heat until smoking. Add beef and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add bean paste, wine, and stock and bring to a boil. Pour in corn starch mixture and cook for 30 seconds until thickened. Add tofu and carefully fold in, being careful not to break it up too much. Stir in chili oil and half of scallions and simmer for 30 seconds longer. Transfer immediately to a serving bowl and sprinkle with remaining scallions and toasted ground pepper. Serve immediately with white rice.

Impressions

An excellent dish. We ate it over rice with some sliced yellow bell pepper sauteed in butter on the side and it was a delicious meal. I ate until I was a little uncomfortably full.

The first time I made this, I used 3x as much beef¹ as I was supposed to. The next time, I used the amount I was supposed to and folks were a little disappointed. There’s probably a good sweet spot or maybe I should just always use a 12 oz. package of Impossible Burger meat.