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Every meal is an adventure. Sunday mornings are a great reason for a home cooked family breakfast. Every warm afternoon is a reason to fire up the barbecue. Every chilly evening a reason for comfort food. Every holiday a reason to continue a tradition or try something new.

Here you will find my regional favorites, and international surprises. Try something new and Enjoy!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Ma-Po Tofu (Chinese)

First is a disclaimer that this not "authentic". I have 2 recipes that appear to be more authentic but both are different in some key ingredients (Szechwan peppercorns & cayenne vs. chili paste with garlic). Mine is more similar to the later and I go with a greater volume of sauce to flavor the steamed rice we serve it with. I also add tomato sauce from the can because I like the color and I don't keep the authentic "brown bean sauce" on hand. Chinese dishes often use ketchup, you could probably substitute that or use 3 Tablespoons of Brown Bean Sauce instead of the tomato ingredient. One recipe also called for sesame oil (2 tsp) which sounds good to me.

Mince 2 cloves of garlic.
Mince 1 Med-Large slice ginger (about 1 Tablespoon)
Slice thinly 2 green onions.

In a wok with a small amount of peanut or flavorless oil lightly brown 8-10 ounces of ground turkey or the authentic ground pork over medium heat then add the garlic, ginger and green onions. Continue cooking for a few minutes then add:

3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine (cooking wine)
Continue cooking until liquid has reduced.

In a measuring vessel (approx 5 cup size) add and whisk the following:
3 cups chicken stock
4 oz canned tomato sauce
2 teaspoons Sriracha (a Vietnamese hot chili garlic sauce) or substitute the same quantity of Chinese chili sauce with or without garlic)
1 teaspoon sugar and 4 tablespoons cornstarch. Blend thoroughly.

Now add this mixture into the wok with the meat mixture and heat over medium until thickened.

While this is heating, rinse then dice and drain 2 tubs of tofu and add to the wok.
You may use firm, medium or silken as you prefer. Leave heat on to warm the tofu.