Ma Po Tofu

So it's been eternity since I wrote something in my blog. I'm feeling a little bit rusty but during my absence I was able to learn a thing or two which I'm just dying to share to anyone who can be bothered.

I don't know what most people feel about tofu but I'm kind of in between. When it's good, it's really good but when it's bad, it's really bad, like nasty. I'm not going to say that it's one of my most favourite things ever because it really isn't. Saying I like it is maybe the right way to put it. I grew up eating it. Tofu is widely used in Fillipino cuisine, but it's mostly deep-fried and dipped in a soy sauce and vinegar sort of dip or sauteed with veggies and meat. Nothing exciting really.

I love Chinese food not only because it tastes really good but also because it cooks really fast. It's convenient and yummy and when you're crazy busy, what more can you ask for right? One of our favourite things from the Chinese restaurant is ma po tofu. Ma po tofu's English translation does not really convey tasty images so I guess I'll skip that. It's a humble dish. It's basically just stewed tofu seasoned with black bean paste and loaded with chillies but it's real secret is the layering of heat. It gets different doses of heat from the chili oil cured black bean paste, chili powder, roasted chili paste and Szechuan pepper corn powder. With the amount of chillies your taste buds kind of goes into hyper taste overdrive, then comes the palate cleanser, the Szechuan pepper corn numbs your tongue so you get some sort of relief. Talk about S & M. I'll leave it at that.



Like most of the things I've tried making before, my first three attempts in making ma po tofu were total flops. The first one was a gloopy mess. The second one, I've used the ready made seasoning mix and it was beyond edible. The third, I ended up burning it so the chillies turned really nasty. I was super frustrated and pissed off beyond belief but I'm a real stubborn person so I have a hard time giving up. I scoured the internet and I found this instructional video from Epicurious.



I was slightly skeptical about this but hey, I've tried it my way three times already so I thought what the heck try it anyway. The result turned out fabulous!!! I swear, if you watched the video, I'm sure the amount of chillies will probably make you cringe but it actually turned out fabulous. If you're not used to super spicy food, you might want to experiment with quantities. Like everything else, I'm sure this recipe will leave you with enough flexibility so you can play around with it and find the most suitable level of heat. I'm sure this can also be turned into something completely vegetarian.

There's two parts to the video, I'll post it here so you won't have a hard time sorting through the stuff in youtube if you're ever interested in checking it out and cooking it yourself. I actually felt bad about canceling my subscription to Bon Appetit when I managed to get this to work for me.



Check it out.