Mapo Tofu

Ingredients

• 0.25 cup Vegetable oil (For toasting and frying the chilies and Sichuan peppercorns)
• 10 g Dried red chilies
• 5 g Green Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 inch Fresh ginger (Thinly sliced into shreds)
• Scallions (Thinly sliced; used as garnish)
• 1 lb Firm tofu (Cut into roughly ¾-inch cubes; firm tofu is recommended because soft tofu breaks more easily and absorbs less flavor)

Steps

1. 1

   Heat ¼ cup vegetable oil in a small saucepan over controlled, moderate heat. Do not use excessively high heat, since the chilies and peppercorns can burn almost instantly.

2. 2

   Add 10 g dried red chilies and 5 g green Sichuan peppercorns to the oil. Toast and fry them until aromatic. The chilies should remain a bright red and smell fragrant rather than burnt.

3. 3

   Transfer the toasted chilies and Sichuan peppercorns to a bowl and set them aside for later.

4. 4

   Thinly slice 1 inch of ginger into small shreds.

5. 5

   Thinly slice the scallions. Reserve them as the garnish for the finished dish.

6. 6

   Cut 1 lb firm tofu into roughly ¾-inch cubes. Firm tofu is preferred because soft tofu breaks too easily and does not absorb as much flavor.

7. 7

   Place the toasted chili and Sichuan peppercorn mixture on a cutting surface and crush it with the back of a cleaver to release its aromatic compounds.

8. 8

   Finely chop the crushed chili and peppercorn mixture into very small pieces.

9. 9

   Add the chopped chili and peppercorn mixture to the dish as directed in the continuation of the recipe. The supplied source ends immediately after this addition, so the remaining mapo tofu cooking and assembly method is unavailable.

Notes

The supplied transcript is incomplete and ends after the chopped chili and Sichuan peppercorn mixture is added. It does not provide the remaining ingredients, seasoning quantities, tofu-cooking method, sauce, final assembly, or serving instructions. Do not treat this as a complete executable mapo tofu recipe without the missing portion.

Nutrition per serving

• main
• Sichuan
• spicy
• numbing
• Chinese-inspired
• stovetop
• tofu
• vegetarian