Dear Diary

Authentic Szechuan style mapo tofu is one of the branding dishes of Szechuan cuisine. It is spicy, numbing, hot, aromatic and tender. Making the yummiest mapo tofu at home for several bowls of steamed rice.

It’s suitable for making at home, and it is easy to learn.

Ingredients

Tofu        1 pic

Spring Onion        1 pic

Chopped Garlic        2 pics

Mince（Beef is the best）        Approximately 1/10 weight of the tofu

pixian bean sauce         1 big spoon (You could find this in Chinese supermarket)

Soy Souce（light color one）        a little-add gradually and taste it

Salt  A little-add gradually and taste

Vinegar        several drops（add at last）

Perppercorn powder 0.5-1g（depends on your taste）

Sesame oil         a little

rice wine        a little

Sweet potato powder        -to thicken the juice

Preparation:

Cut the tofu into squares (the size is on your decision)

Cut the spring onions into small pieces, and chop the garlic into minces. The minced meat should be defrozened beforehand.

Boil the tofu

Why?

1.The tofu will taste better when contains less water after boiling.

2.The boiled tofu makes the tofu more elastic and tasty.

3.Add a little salt when boiling the tofu, this is crucial.

4.Tofu should be cooked for 2-3 mins (soft fire, big fire could break the tofu).

Fry:

Take another pot, and put some oil inside (could be more than usual). When the oil becomes hot, fry the minced meat. Note that the oil temperature should not be too hot, and fry it slowly until the minced meat becomes slightly yellow and dry.

Then add Pixian bean sauce to fry until red oil comes out.

Add the garlic to fry until the aroma comes out, then add some water or soup (A small bowl). When the water boiled, add some rice wine, soy sauce, a little sugar, and then taste it. It should be less salty than it should be, because the water will be condensed later.

Add the tofu to cook for 2-3 mins, until the soup condensed and add some peppercorn powder.

Finanlly add some sweet potato powder to thicken the soup. (dilute the powder in a little water and add it, stir), then add the seasame oil and vinegar.

It’s done! You could add some spring onion, seasame on top as decorations.

Bon Appetite!