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Authentic Sichuan Tofu Recipe for Home Cooks

This is a simple home cooked dish which is popular in Sichuan. It’s relatively easy to make and healthy. I have made a vegetarian version, but you can easily add pork if you desire a more robust dish. The key to making this easy to prepare is to have all of your ingredients prepared and ready to go into the wok. This is loosely adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop’s book the “The Food of Sichuan”.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Pack of Firm Tofu halved and cut into squares.
  • 3 Scallion aka Green Onion cut into 2 inch lengths, keeping white and green separate.
  • 1/2 cup Cooking Oil
  • 2 Tbsp Chili Bean Paste known as doubanjiang.
  • 1 Tbsp Pickled Chilies chopped
  • 1 Tbsp Fermented Black Beans rinsed.
  • 4-5 Garlic Cloves sliced
  • 2 inch piece of Ginger Root peeled, sliced and chopped
  • 3/4 cup Stock I use low sodium vegetable stock.
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
  • 1 tsp Potato Starch or you can substitute cornstarch, mixed with 4 Tbsp of water.

Equipment

  • Wok

Method
 

  1. After cutting you tofu into squares, allow them to drain on paper towels. Applying a little pressure will help push out some of the water.
  2. Heat the oil in your wok and fry them in batches until golden, turning them during cooking. Allow them to drain on paper towels and continue with the meal.
  3. Pour off a majority of the oil, leaving maybe 2-3 Tbsp in the wok. Stir fry the chili bean paste, pickles, chilies and black beans over medium heat until fragrant. Then add the garlic, ginger and white scallion bits and cook. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
  4. Add in the stock and fried tofu and bring up to a boil. Then add the green scallion bits, sugar and soy sauce. Allow it to thicken slightly and then use your potato starch mixture to thicken. Just add a bit at a time.
  5. Serve immediately with brown or white Jasmine rice.

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