This is mapo tofu's quieter cousin. There is no numbing pepper and no long simmer, just pork, chilli bean paste and a box of silken tofu that gets two minutes in the pan. Everything depends on frying the paste properly first, because raw bean paste tastes flat and slightly bitter.
Sichuan · Main
Silken Tofu With Minced Pork in Red Oil Bean Sauce
Minced pork is fried with chilli bean paste until the oil runs red, then silken tofu goes in for two minutes only, just long enough to heat through without breaking.
- Prep10 min
- Cook12 min
- Serves3
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 1 box | silken tofu , about 400 g |
| 100 g | lean pork , minced |
| 2 tbsp | corn oil |
| 1 tbsp | scallion , finely chopped |
| 1 tbsp | ginger , finely chopped |
| 1 tbsp | garlic , finely chopped |
| 1 tbsp | chilli bean paste , Doubanjiang |
| 1 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| 1 tsp | chicken bouillon powder |
| 1/2 tbsp | caster sugar |
| 150 ml | water |
| 1 tbsp | cornstarch , mixed with 2 tbsp cold water |
Method
- Cut the tofu into 2 cm cubes and leave them in a bowl. Handle them once now and not again; silken tofu marks easily.
- Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat, add the pork and break it up with a spatula until the grains separate and start to crisp at the edges.
- Add the scallion, ginger and garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then the chilli bean paste. Turn the heat to medium low and fry for a full minute, until the oil in the pan turns red and the paste smells roasted.
- Pour in the water, then season with the sugar, bouillon powder and soy.
- Slide the tofu in, push it gently into the liquid with the back of a spoon, and simmer for 2 minutes. Do not stir.
- Thicken with the cornstarch slurry in two or three additions, letting the sauce come back to a bubble between each one, so it clings rather than turns gluey.
- Scatter the scallion greens over the top and serve with rice.
Notes
- Fry the bean paste until the oil separates. That single minute is the difference between a bright sauce and a muddy one.
- Add the slurry in stages. Silken tofu releases water as it heats, so a single thick addition will thin out again.
- Firm tofu can be used instead, but blanch it for a minute first to firm the edges and remove the raw bean taste.
Ratios and technique checked against 喜洋洋717 on Douguo (肉末豆腐). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.