Over the weekend Jon and I decided to sit down to an overdue warm home cooked meal together. He's been coming home past 2am every night for the last week. Here's what we had:

Mapo Tofu
Tofu Tofu Tofu.. Tasty and healthy!

The great thing about tofu is that its extremely versatile. It's rich in protein and B-vitamins making a great substitute for meat in vegetarian meals. Tofu is also a great source of Calcium which can help prevent osteoporosis and any other bone related issues. You can put it in about anything. Its quite bland so it takes on whatever taste you flavor it with. Tofu comes in firm, soft, and silken. Firm is great for frying and silk/silken is great for stews and soups.

Enough babbling and on to the recipe!

Serves 3-4


Ingredients
- 1 package of firm tofu
- 3 stalks of scallions/green onions
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp of grated or diced ginger
- 1 red chili pepper (optional)
- 0.5 lbs of lean ground pork (choose any ground meat you like: beef, turkey, chicken)
- 1/2 cup of chicken stock
- sesame oil
- 1 tbsp szechuan peppercorns
- 1 tbsp chinese black beans (I get the ones in chili oil to kick up the heat)
- 1 tbsp chili bean sauce
- 1 tbsp black vinegar
- 1 tbsp hoisin/oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (optional* just to taste)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch


Toast peppercorns in a pan for a few minutes to help release the natural oils and aromas. Then grind up the peppercorn with a mortar and pestle. Food processor works fine as well. These peppercorns have a unique quality to them. They do add a little heat but more than that they numb up your tongue in a way that opens your taste buds to all the other flavors going on.


Chop off the white part of the scallions and cut them into small pieces. Save the tops for garnish. Mince the garlic and ginger and thinly slice the pepper. Cut the tofu into about 1 inch cubes.


In a wok, add a little sesame oil over medium heat. Toss in the scallions, garlic, ginger, and red pepper. Once slightly browned add the ground meat.


When the meat is cooked add in the black beans and turn up the heat. Then add the chili bean sauce, black vinegar, and hoisin sauce and stir. Add the half cup of chicken stock to the mixture. (if you want more sauce add more stock). Give it a quick taste and add soy sauce if needed. Fold in the tofu being careful not to break them. Mix the cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water and add to the mixture (this will help thicken the sauce). Add in a spoon of the freshly ground peppercorn. Simmer for a few more minutes. Garnish with the remaining scallions and serve.


.. and voila! Happy hubby
Hubby and I ate it over quinoa as a healthier option but it tastes great over white rice as well.

Note: if you choose to try it over quinoa make sure the sauce is not too salty.

Cheers.