Bean Curd Szechuan Style Recipes

SPICY SZECHUAN GREEN BEANS

Steps:

• Combine green beans and water in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, and sesame oil; cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and red pepper flakes together in a small bowl. Pour over beans and cook until sauce thickens enough to coat beans, 3 to 5 minutes.

MAPO TOFU RECIPE

Steps:

• Add a small pinch of salt and ground pepper. Mix well and set aside.
• Cut tofu into square cubes (around 2cms). Bring a large amount of water to a boil and then add a pinch of salt. Slide the tofu in and cook for 1 minute. Move out and drain. This helps to remove the raw soy flavor form tofu.
• Get a wok and heat up around 2 tablespoons of oil, fry the minced meat until crispy. Transfer out and leave the oil in.
• Add another 1 tablespoon of vegetable cooking oil and fry doubanjiang for 1 minute over slow fire until the red turns red (bring us a lovely red color dish) and add fermented black beans, garlic, scallion white and ginger, cook for 30 seconds until aroma. Optionally mix pepper flakes in. Pepper flakes should be added at the end because it contains little water and can be burnt easily.
• Pour in water or stock. Add light soy sauce, sugar and half of the cooked beef (providing more flavors to the soup) after the broth boils and let it continue simmering for 2-3 minutes. Place the tofu in, simmer for another 6-8 minutes. The longer time of simmering helps the tofu to absorb the flavors.
• During the process of simmering, mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2.5 tablespoons of water in a small bowl to make water starch. Stir the water starch and then pour half of the mixture to the simmering pot. Back push and wait for around 30 seconds and then pour the other half. You can slightly taste the tofu and add pinch of salt if not salty enough. Add cooked beef to creates some crispy texture and then drizzle sesame oil. Mix well.
• Transfer out when almost all the seasonings stick to tofu cubes. Sprinkle Szechuan peppercorn powder (to taste)and chopped garlic greens if using.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice.

SZECHUAN TOFU AND VEGGIES

Steps:

• Heat oil in a skillet. Season oil generously with salt and pepper. With tofu, I generally use ½ teaspoon kosher salt per ½ pound of tofu. Swirl the seasoned oil around until spread out uniformly. Add tofu and sear on at least two sides, until crispy and golden. Be patient here. Set aside.
• To the same pan, add a little more oil if needed, onion, and mushrooms and sauté over medium-high heat - stirring constantly, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining veggies, add the dried red chilies if you like -and lower heat to medium, and sauté, tossing & stirring for 3-5 minutes until just tender or al dente. Tender, but vibrant and still slightly crisp!
• Add the Szechuan Sauce, starting with ¼ cup and adding more to taste. If you are cooking more than one batch, you'll need to multiply the sauce accordingly. Cook the sauce 2 minutes, letting it thicken a bit. Toss in the crispy tofu ( or shrimp or chicken) right at the end, just to warm it up.
• Divide among bowls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions. Add chili flakes for more heat.
• Serve this just as it is, or over rice, or noodles... and remember, do not eat the dried chilis!

SICHUAN MAPO TOFU

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Mix the tapioca starch and the soy sauce together.
• Marinate pork for about 20 minutes.
• Cut the tofu ( bean curd ) into 1/2-inch square cubes, and blanch (drop into boiling water) for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove from boiling water and drain.
• Chop leek or green onions into short lengths.
• Heat wok and add oil. When the oil is ready, add the marinated pork. Stir-fry pork until the color darkens. Add salt and stir.
• Add the salted black beans. Mash the beans with a cooking ladle until they blend in well with the meat.
• Add the chili bean paste, then the stock, bean curd, and leek or green onions. Turn down the heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
• While cooking, mix cornstarch , water, and soy sauce together. Add to wok and stir gently.
• Serve with freshly ground Szechuan pepper and enjoy!

BEAN CURD SZECHUAN-STYLE (MA PO DOFU)

Steps:

• Cut bean curd into .5-inch cubes, place in a colander and leave to drain for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl blend the marinade: 1 tsp of soy sauce, sherry, and sweet bean or hoisin sauce; add pork and stir to coat.
• Stir in 1 tsp of the oil and marinate for 15 minutes.
• Heat a wok or wide frying pan over high heat.
• When pan is hot, add remaining veg oil.
• When oil begins to heat (i.e. passes the "water droplet test" where a sprinkling of water thrown into the oil starts to crackle--careful here) add ginger and garlic.
• Stir once, then add pork and stir-fry until meat isn't pink any more, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in hot bean sauce (lajiaojiang or tobanjan).
• Add drained beancurd, the water and the 2 Tbsp soy sauce.
• Simmer for 3 minutes, then add green onion.
• Re-mix cornstarch and water with a fork, add to pan and cook, stirring, until sauce bubbles and thickens (this happens very quickly).
• Sprinkle with crushed szechuan peppercorns just before serving.
• Serve over large mounds of hot white rice.
• I have served this along with some stir-fried Chinese broccoli (gai lan) seasoned with a little oyster sauce, or some baby bok choy stir fried with a little sesame oil.
• For a vegetarian version, this recipe also works if you omit the meat.
• You could also try using some kind of veggie sausage, like Morningstar crumbles, in place of the pork.

SZECHUAN-STYLE EGGPLANT AND TOFU IN CHILI BEAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat a wok with the oil over a high heat. Stir-fry the garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds.
• Add the eggplant to the wok and continue frying for 2-3 minutes.
• Pour over 500ml of water, followed by the chilli bean sauce, soy sauce and tofu. Simmer for another 1-2 minutes, garnish with spring onions and serve immediately with steamed rice.

MAPO TOFU

Steps:

• First, we toast the chilies. If you have homemade toasted chili oil, you can skip this step. Heat your wok or a small saucepan over low heat. Add ¼ cup of the oil and throw in the fresh and dried peppers. Stir occasionally and heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes, ensuring that the peppers don't burn. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Heat the remaining ¼ cup of oil in your wok over medium heat. Add the ginger. After 1 minute, add the garlic. Fry for another minute, and then turn up the heat to high and add the ground pork. Break up the meat and fry it until it's cooked through. Add your ground Sichuan peppercorns and stir for about 15-30 seconds, taking care to not let it burn, as it will turn bitter if it does.
• Add the spicy bean sauce to the mixture and stir it in well. Add ⅔ cups of chicken broth to the wok and stir. Let this simmer for a minute or so. While that's happening, ready your tofu and also put a ¼ cup of water in a small bowl with your cornstarch and mix until thoroughly combined.
• Add the cornstarch mixture to your sauce and stir. Let it bubble away until the sauce starts to thicken. (If it gets too thick, splash in a little more water or chicken stock.)
• Then add your chili oil from before-peppers and all! If you are using homemade chili oil, ONLY use the standing oil, as it's likely that you have salted it and you only want the oil, not additional salt. Stir the oil into the sauce, and add the tofu. Use your spatula to gently toss the tofu in the sauce. Let everything cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the sesame oil and sugar (if using) along with the scallions and stir until the scallions are just wilted.
• Serve with a last sprinkle of Sichuan peppercorn powder as a garnish if desired.

BEAN CURD SZECHUAN STYLE

Steps:

• 1. Heat 2 T. of oil in wok. Stir-fry ginger and scallions 30 seconds. Put in port. Stir-fry 1 minute. Add 1 T. soy sauce and sherry. Cook 1 minute. Remove mixture to plate. 2. Heat 2 T oil in wok. Put in tofu. Add 1 T soy sauce, stock, chili past and sugar/sweetener. 3. Put pork mixture on top of todu. Cook over high heat 2 minutes. Add dissolved cornstarch to thicken (optional). Add garlic. Stir gently into sauce.