Mapo Tofu - my version

Ingredients

• 300 g Tofu see note 1
• 200 g Plant based mince (or if preferred a 425g can of organic brown lentils, drained)
• 1 Tbsp Garlic minced
• 1 tsp Ginger minced
• 1 Tbsp Hot Pepper paste - Ottogi brand Gochujang see Note 2
• 1 Tbsp Roasted Green and Red Chilli sauce Wa! brand
• 2 Tbsp Mirin
• 1/2 Tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp Miso
• 1 Tbsp Vegetarian oyster sauce
• 2 tsp Corn starch or Potato starch
• 1 Spring onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp Sichuan Pepper ground (Optional)
• 2 Tbsp Vegetable oil neutral flavour

Instructions

1. 1

   If using silken tofu then remove the tofu from it's packet.

   Put enough water in a pot to cover the tofu and put the tofu in.

   Add teaspoon of salt to the water and bring it to a boil.

   Once it's boiling reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, the longer you cook it the more firm the tofu will be.

   Carefully remove the tofu from the pot and put it on paper towel on a rack to cool.

   Once it's cooled cut the tofu into 2 to 3 cm (1") cubes and set aside for later use.

   If using a firm tofu to start with then use the following method

   Blanch the Tofu

   Cut the tofu into 2 to 3 cm/ 1" cubes and place the cubes gently into a pot filled with water. Add a teaspoon of salt, turn on the heat and as soon as water is boiling turn heat down to simmer for 1 minute. Removed and drain the tofu and set it aside for later use.

2. 2

   Make the sauce

   In a bowl combine the hot pepper paste, green and red chilli, mirin, soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, brown miso paste and cornflour and mix well. Add a half a cup of water and mix well. Set aside.

3. 3

   Cooking

   Heat up a large frying pan or wok on medium heat then add the oil. Add the minced ginger and garlic and sauté till fragrant. Add the plant based mince (or drained lentils if using) and cook the plant based mince according to manufacturers directions. Be careful not over cook the ginger and garlic and if in doubt remove them from pan before adding the plant based mince and add them back when the mince is cooked.

   If using lentils instead of the plant based mince simply add the drained lentils to the pan and stir to mix with the garlic and ginger.

   Once the plant based mince is cooked give the sauce a good stir before adding it to the pan with the mince (or lentil) mixture.

   Stir the sauce through and bring to a simmer.

   Add half of the chopped spring onion and stir through.

   Carefully add the tofu and stir very gently with a wooden or plastic cooking spatula to coat the tofu in the sauce.

   The sauce will thicken quite quickly so when it looks just a bit runnier than what you want turn off the heat as the sauce will continue to thicken.  

   If the sauce thickens too quickly before you have coated the tofu add a small amounts of water to loosen it up again before you add the tofu.

4. 4

   Assemble

   In medium size bowls serve the mapo tofu on a bed of steamed white rice. I prefer Koshihikari which is a premium short grain white rice.

   Garnish with some of the spring onion