There are a few things that’s hold sacred by the Sydney siders. One of them is the belief that rain is a a passing fad and one that will disappear sooner than later. When this is proven to be untrue and we experience three days of rain or more, we sulk and turn into temporary hermits to spite the world into submission.
In my case I’ve been moping around with the cat, binging on K drama and wishing for a dry hot summer.
For me this Mapo tofu recipe was the perfect pick me up during a wet Monday. This Schezuan dish with its hot numbing schezuan peppers is a staple for most Chinese restaurants, best eaten with steaming white rice.
I’m linking to Andrea Nguyen’s awesome recipe rather than reproduce it here. Traditionally this recipe is cooked using minced pork and tofu in a hot gravy like sauce. Andrea’s recipe use crumbed tofu mixed with finely chopped mushroom to reproduce a similar texture. I love this version, because the texture is close enough, without the heaviness of the original recipe.
I did make a few changes, that you might want to follow:
- You don’t need to freeze the tofu, if you already have good quality firm tofu
- I added 1 rounded teaspoon of garlic as well as the ginger
- I used 3 fresh shitake mushroom instead of dried and would probably double this amount if I cook it a second time
When sprinkling the ground peppercorn make sure you taste as sprinkle rather than toss it madly, the peppercorn has a kick and moderation is the key to this dish. This dish it’s better the next day, and even more so the day after, so make a big pot to last for a while.
mirgraphy 