Mapo Tofu

I had some mapo tofu recently at a local restaurant and felt so underwhelmed by it that I thought there must be a better recipe out there somewhere. The authentic Sichuan version comes loaded with mince pork which is quite misleading from its nice vegetarian friendly name. However after some mixing and matching of various recipes the one below has bags of flavour that I'm sure even a Sichuanese wouldn't miss the meat!

Ingredients
serves 4
450g tofu, soft & silken, cut into approx. 1.5cm cubes
200g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp Doubanjian, (Sichuan spicy bean paste)
1/2 tbsp Douchi, (fermented black soy beans)
1/2 tbsp Sichuan pepper, ground
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp light soy sauce
400ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp groundnut oil
2 spring onions, finely chopped, (separate the whites from the greens)
4 wild garlic leaves (optional - omit green of the spring onions if included), finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh root ginger, grated
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Method

Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add the salt. Then gently slide the tofu into the pan and boil for a minute. Remove from the water and set aside to drain.

In a cast iron (non-stick) wok heat up the groundnut oil on a medium to low temperature. Then add the doubanjiang bean paste and fry for 1 minute. Next add garlic, ginger, chopped spring onion (whites) and the Douchi fermented black beans. Cook for a further minute.  Add half of the ground Sichuan pepper and if you like it spicy also add the chilli flakes now.

Add the veg stock and turn up the heat to bring it to a boil.  Add light soy sauce and carefully add the soft tofu cubes. Reduce the heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes.

Then add chopped wild garlic greens (or the chopped spring onion greens).

In a small bowl add a ladle of the broth to a tablespoon of cornflour. Mix well to eliminate  any lumps. Gently stir the cornflour broth back into the pan and cook for a further few minutes.

Taste the sauce and add sugar if it seems too salty or too spicy.

When the sauce has thickened sufficiently and begins to cling to the tofu then it is ready to serve.

Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle over a good pinch of Sichuan pepper and some chopped wild garlic (spring onion) greens.

Serve immediately with steamed rice.