Szechuan Tofu with Pork

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

8 people added this to their Recipe Box

This recipe makes 6 servings

Nutritional Info
Per serving: about	-
cal	197197 cal
pro	14 g14g pro
total fat	12 g12g total fat
sat. fat	3 g3g sat. fat
carb	8 g8g carb
fibre	1 g1g fibre
chol	22 mg22mg chol
sodium	584 mg584mg sodium
% RDI:	-
calcium	99 calcium
iron	1212 iron
vit A	44 vit A
vit C	55 vit C
folate	2020 folate

This spicy Chinese classic, called ma po doufu, is named after the pock-marked (ma) grandmother (po) who served this dish in her restaurant. Stir-fried green onions, ginger, black bean garlic sauce and ground pork provide the flavour, with tofu adding textural contrast. Sprinkle traditional ground toasted Szechuan pepper or toasted hot pepper flakes on top. Serve with rice and snow peas.

Ingredients

1 1pkg (454 g) pkg (454 g)medium-firm tofu, drained
1 cup chicken stock 1 1cup cupchicken stock
2 tbsp soy sauce 2 2tbsp tbspsoy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine 2 2tbsp tbspChinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp sesame oil 1 1tsp tspsesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch 1 1tbsp tbspcornstarch
2 tsp Szechuan pepper 2 2tsp tspSzechuan pepper or hot pepper flakes
1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 1tbsp tbspvegetable oil
3 cloves garlic , minced3 3cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced gingerroot 2 2tsp tspminced gingerroot
8 oz lean ground pork 8 8oz ozlean ground pork
2 tsp hot pepper paste 2 2tsp tsphot pepper paste
2 tbsp black bean garlic sauce 2 2tbsp tbspblack bean garlic sauce
5 green onions , chopped5 5green oniongreen onions, chopped

Preparation

Cut tofu into 3/4-inch (2 cm) cubes; let drain in colander for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in bowl, stir together stock, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil; set aside. In small bowl, whisk cornstarch with 2 tbsp (25 mL) water; set aside.

In large wok or skillet, toast Szechuan pepper over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Place in resealable plastic bag; crush to fine powder with side of large knife. Set aside.

In same pan, heat vegetable oil over high heat; stir-fry garlic, ginger and hot pepper paste for 5 seconds. Add pork; stir-fry, breaking up with spoon, until no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Add black bean garlic sauce along with all but 2 tbsp (25 mL) of the green onions; stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Add stock mixture and bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until reduced by one-quarter, about 4 minutes. Add tofu; simmer until heated through, about 1 minute. Rewhisk cornstarch mixture; add to pan and cook, stirring gently and being careful not to break up tofu, until sauce is thickened and glossy, about 20 seconds.

Garnish with remaining green onions and Szechuan pepper.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine: June 2003