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[The Ghetto Cook] XI: Ma Po Tofu

Blogs > Newbistic
Post a Reply
Newbistic
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
China2912 Posts
December 15 2011 06:26 GMT
#1
The Ghetto Cook Part XI:
Ma Po Tofu


Introduction

Hello all, welcome to the eleventh installment of TGC! This installment sees me reverting back to my roots with a classic Chinese tofu dish, ma po tofu. I've eaten at quite a few Chinese restaurants across the United States, but I don't ever recall eating a single ma po tofu dish that I found satisfactory. Here I will present my own take on ma po tofu. I'm not an expert on the dish and I actually don't know what is the "real" traditional way to cook the dish, but that won't deter me, and it should definitely not deter you either.

Ingredients

A quick note before we begin. This recipe features many distinctly Chinese ingredients that may be unfamiliar to many non-Chinese readers. I will provide descriptions for these ingredients and point out the important characteristics of these ingredients that you should look for. Also, this is a vegetarian variation of this dish I'm making for a friend. The meat counterpart will be mentioned but not photographed.

[image loading]
If you're not Asian, a little extra shopping may be in order

1 Package tofu, preferably soft/medium
3-4 ounces ground meat (chopped mushrooms pictured)
Fresh Garlic (I only had garlic powder, still works)
Flour/corn starch
Chili garlic sauce*
Chili black bean sauce**
Coriander***
Cilantro****
Cooking oil
Chinese rice wine*****
Chinese black vinegar******
C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

Rice on the side to serve with the dish.
Check out this TGC installment if you need help with your rice.

*This is your standard chili garlic sauce. It should be quite common and can be found under many different brands in your local Asian goods store.
**Look for a chili sauce that specifically contains black beans. These strongly flavored black beans will be like burrowed banelings of flavor in your dish.
***Not a typical ingredient in ma po tofu, but I think it's just grand.
****Most ma po tofu dishes call for scallions, but IMO cilantro just provides a far more poignant contrasting flavor. Use scallions if you want.
*****Check out this previous blog for the lowdown on Chinese cooking wine. Scroll all the way to the bottom to find it under the "bonus section".
******Again, a very traditional Chinese ingredient. If you don't use this regularly, you probably don't want to buy an entire bottle just to make this dish. Substitute regular vinegar or anything else sour.

Here's a closeup of that bean sauce, note the black specks:
[image loading]
According to the camera, this is one of a few select foods that looks similar when going in as it does going out

Here's a picture of the Chinese brown vinegar:
[image loading]
There probably have been less helpful pictures, but not many

Prep

[image loading]
Tofu is delicate shit. Don't work with it if you are either currently angry, or have just lost three very close games in a major tournament and will soon have to play a game that doesn't matter.#

If you are using minced meat, you do not have to work with it too much. Stick it in a small bowl and pour a little cooking wine over it and let it steep. If you are using mushrooms, slice them into bite-sized pieces.

Rinse the small bunch of cilantro (probably 1 1/2 tbsp?) and chop into 1/2 inch segments. Set aside.

Take your package of tofu, make a slit in the package and drain the water. Gently remove your tofu block from the package and rinse it over with water. Cut the block of tofu into roughly 1/2 inch pieces. My block of tofu yielded 3x4x6 blocks.

Also, you may wish to pre-emptively open all the cans/bottles you will use at this point in time. I found it rather annoying wiping my wet hands every other minute to open bottles while trying to prevent shit in the pot from burning during the cooking process.

Cooking

Crank the stove heat up to medium-high. Pour about a tablespoon of oil into the pot, let it sit until it begins to smoke. Add your mushrooms/minced meat. You want to saute the mushrooms and brown the meat. The mushrooms will turn a lovely light brown color as it cooks.

[image loading]
It's actually browner than it looks. No, I didn't throw a flashbang grenade just as I took the picture, I just don't know how to control the camera flash correctly.

Once the mushrooms/meat has been sauteed/browned, add about half a tablespoon of chili garlic sauce and half a tablespoon of the black been chili sauce. Also add a splash of cooking wine and a splash of vinegar, and let the ingredients cook together for a few minutes. Taste the sauce at this point and add salt if needed (you probably won't). At this point in time, you are basically cooking the sauce to evaporate all of the alcohol.

Meanwhile, it's now time to whip out dat coriander. Take about a teaspoon of coriander and place it on your cutting board. Lay the flat of your knife over the coriander and press down with your hand to crush the seeds. This will allow the flavor in the seeds to leak out faster. Dump this into your pot.

[image loading]
Heart of the Sauce, expansion pack to Wings of Riberty by Brizzard

After a few minutes you can finally dump tofu into the pot. Gently fold it into the sauce and let it simmer in the sauce. On the side, dissolve about a teaspoon of flour/corn starch in a small bowl of water, and pour it over your tofu. Gently stir everything together with a spatula (don't wreck those tofu cubes) and cover the pot. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pour your tofu out onto a plate and spread cilantro over the dish. Serve hot with rice.

The Result

[image loading]
Christmas colors by complete happenstance

4.2 / 5 I have to admit I kind of fucked up when I was cooking this (lol). I added some salt before adding the chili sauces, which made the dish wayyyy too salty. That's why I recommend you add the sauces first then check to see if you need to add more salt. Otherwise, it's a pretty fucking tasty dish. Don't fuck up like I did and it'll come out great. Like, better than 4.2 out of 5 great.

Conclusion

And thus the dish "ma po tofu" passed into the annals of TGC history. It's a fairly easy dish to make, and very customizable to boot (pretty much every restaurant I've eaten at has a different take on this dish).

Comments and questions welcome as usual, especially if you know where I fucked up (or disagree with how this dish was made). Until the next installment, drive safe and don't fall asleep at the wheel.

Archives

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
Cheapass Chili
Scallion Biscuits
Fake Fried Rice
Pan Fried Buns Part I
Pan Fried Buns Part II
French Fucking Toast
EZPZ Pasta
Basil Eggplant
Hodgepodge
Breakfast

#Sorry Naniwa that was low. <3

****
Logic is Overrated
nekoconeco
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Australia359 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-12-15 06:34:46
December 15 2011 06:34 GMT
#2
Yay one of my favorite dishes. You have to be so careful stirring the tofu though the first time I made it it turned to mush. But I've made it successfully a lot of times since then.
My Photoshop stream (requests welcome) --> http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=304143
iSometric
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
2221 Posts
December 15 2011 06:44 GMT
#3
Just want to say I use the chiangkiang vinegar too. High five!
strava.com/athletes/zhaodynasty
d3_crescentia
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States4054 Posts
December 15 2011 06:47 GMT
#4
interesting that you use mushrooms as the meat substitute instead of more tofu

I'll have to try that sometime
once, not long ago, there was a moon here
Newbistic
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
China2912 Posts
December 15 2011 07:00 GMT
#5
On December 15 2011 15:47 d3_crescentia wrote:
interesting that you use mushrooms as the meat substitute instead of more tofu

I'll have to try that sometime


Yeah, mushrooms are my go-to meat substitute since it has a rich flavor similar to meat. Maybe tofurkey or something like that would also work.
Logic is Overrated
ForJungSooYeon
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
Canada63 Posts
December 15 2011 07:05 GMT
#6
instead of garlic chilli sauce try spicy bean curd sauce.
OTL
yasushii
Profile Joined April 2010
United States45 Posts
December 15 2011 07:07 GMT
#7
mapo tofu is one of my favorite dishes to cook! i'm not boss like you though; i usually use a pre-made sauce because of time constraints. for tofu, i prefer the medium type -- not too soft, but not too firm.

i just spent the last 30 minutes looking through your cooking blogs -- they're pretty funny and interesting! i hope you keep doing them.
www.soompi.com
Sawamura
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Malaysia7602 Posts
December 15 2011 07:27 GMT
#8
Another alternative to this is the japanese version which is I am more likely tuned to ^^ http://j-simplerecipes.com/recipes_metric/bean/japanese-style-mapo-tofu.html
BW/KT Forever R.I.P KT.Violet dearly missed ..
Newbistic
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
China2912 Posts
December 15 2011 08:44 GMT
#9
On December 15 2011 16:07 yasushii wrote:
mapo tofu is one of my favorite dishes to cook! i'm not boss like you though; i usually use a pre-made sauce because of time constraints. for tofu, i prefer the medium type -- not too soft, but not too firm.

i just spent the last 30 minutes looking through your cooking blogs -- they're pretty funny and interesting! i hope you keep doing them.


Thanks! I only wish to entertain

On December 15 2011 16:27 Sawamura wrote:
Another alternative to this is the japanese version which is I am more likely tuned to ^^ http://j-simplerecipes.com/recipes_metric/bean/japanese-style-mapo-tofu.html


The only thing uniquely Japanese about that recipe is the use of miso. The recipe looks more like just a spicy tofu dish than mapo tofu tbh. I did spend some time browsing some of the other recipes on the site though. Some of the recipes are so simple that I feel like there's something there that I'm not getting.
Logic is Overrated
Primadog
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States4411 Posts
December 15 2011 08:49 GMT
#10
Ah an anime classic.
[image loading]

I know I know, 麻婆豆腐came from China and all.

Thank God and gunrun.
Keyboard Warrior
Profile Joined December 2011
United States1178 Posts
December 15 2011 09:03 GMT
#11
I feel like going down chinatown now to buy what I need for myown Ma Po Tofu.

Im really so hungry now. Very bad of you to do this sir.
Not your regular Keyboard Warrior ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
SirHyoon
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Australia46 Posts
December 15 2011 10:49 GMT
#12
Ma Po Tofu is so good, one of my top favourite dishes
Fontong
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States6454 Posts
December 20 2011 00:42 GMT
#13
Hmm this style of mapo tofu looks really good, but...

[image loading]

None of these babies?
[SECRET FONT] "Dragoon bunker"
SerpentFlame
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
415 Posts
December 20 2011 00:55 GMT
#14
On December 15 2011 16:00 Newbistic wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 15 2011 15:47 d3_crescentia wrote:
interesting that you use mushrooms as the meat substitute instead of more tofu

I'll have to try that sometime


Yeah, mushrooms are my go-to meat substitute since it has a rich flavor similar to meat. Maybe tofurkey or something like that would also work.

I agree! Mushrooms are pretty tasty substitutes, as they've got a similarish texture and the right flavor. Would Tofurkey really work well in Tofu?
I Wannabe[WHITE], the very BeSt[HyO], like Yo Hwan EVER Oz.......
nekoconeco
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Australia359 Posts
December 20 2011 01:13 GMT
#15
On December 20 2011 09:42 Fontong wrote:
Hmm this style of mapo tofu looks really good, but...

[image loading]

None of these babies?


Didn't notice that before but you can't make it properly without szechuan pepper!! It gives the weirdest taste/sensation.
My Photoshop stream (requests welcome) --> http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=304143
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