How to Cook Ma Po Tofu

Serves: 6-8

Preparation time: 15 mins + 2 hours (inactive)

Cooking time: 2 ½ hours

Ingredients needed to make Ma Po Tofu:

For the marinade:

• 1 (4 lb) boneless pork shoulder, chopped into 1’’ chunks
• ½ cup Chinese black vinegar, plus more if necessary
• 1 cup Shaoxing wine

For the sauce:

• 4 oz beech mushrooms, stem trimmed
• 2 tbsp fermented black beans, finely chopped
• 2 oz dried arbol chiles
• 3’’ fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• ½ medium head garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 bsp soy sauce
• ¼ cup + 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup star anise pods
• 1 cardamom pod
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1/3 cup sea salt
• Chili oil, as required

For serving:

• 1 lb soft tofu, drained and diced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Cooking instructions for Ma Po Tofu:

• Whisk the Chinese black vinegar and shaoxing wine together in a large bowl until well combined and place the meat into it.
• Flip it over a number of times until well coated with the marinade and put a lid on top leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• To make the sauce, place a rack midway within your oven and warm it up to 400 degrees F.
• Arrange the chiles across a baking sheet in single layer and toast them in the hot oven for about 3-5 minutes or until it darkens slightly; remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
• Dump them into a spice grinder and pulse them into a fine powder.
• Transfer the chile powder into a bowl and set aside.
• Gring the Sichuan peppercorns as well as star anise pod in the same grinder, into a fine powder and tip it into the bowl with powdered chile; set aside until necessary.
• Drain the marinated pork into a colander and reserve the marinade.
• Place the pork within a meat grinder, fitted with a rough dye and grind it into a heavy-based pot.
• Dump in the ground spices, followed by a splash of the reserved marinade, water and brown sugar.
• Drop in the whole spices, along with a dash of salt and stir them all together until well combined.
• Cook the mixture over moderately-high heat, until it begins to simmer and lower the heat slightly to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the meat loses its pinkish tinge.
• Lower the heat further to low and continue to simmer for a couple of hours, covered, while giving it a good stir every 30 minutes.
• Whisk the vinegar, tomato paste, ginger, garlic and fermented black beans together in a separate bowl until well combined and set aside.
• Once the meat sauce is ready, turn off the heat and stir in the above mixture until they are mixed thoroughly.
• Fold in the mushrooms and drizzle the chile oil over it; adjust the seasonings if necessary.
• For serving, empty 3 cups of the above sauce in a large skillet and simmer it over moderately high heat.
• Stir in the tofu gently and continue to cook for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is heated through.
• Ladle it into a serving bowl and top it up with scallions plus cilantro.
• Serve alongside hot steamed rice.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Last Updated on March 1, 2013 by