Lee's Family Mapo Tofu

Passed along from my mother this is a great, quick and delicious Mapo Tofu recipe.

Ingredients:

- 1½ tbsp Szechuan peppercorns

- 5 garlic cloves

- 1½- inch piece of ginger

- 1 pack of medium-firm tofu (608g)

- 1¼ lb. ground pork

- 1 tsp light soy sauce

- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

- 3 tsp fermented red soybean paste

- ½ cup water

- 1½ tsp cornstarch

- 4 tsp cold water

- 1 green onion

Directions:

In a mortar and pestle, crush the Szechuan peppercorns. Once crushed, put aside in a bowl.

Then crush the ginger and garlic in the same mortar and pestle into a paste.

Side Note: If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, don’t worry. Crush up your Szechuan peppercorns any way you like. One way is putting it in a Ziploc bag and smashing it with a rolling pin.

The ginger and garlic can just be minced up as well.

Slice up the green onion and keep that aside to put on top of the finished dish.

Cut your tofu into ½ inch cubes.

In a wok or frying pan, heat up some vegetable oil with the garlic, ginger and Szechuan peppercorns. Once fragrant, fry up the pork with light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.

Once the meat is fully cooked, add the red soybean paste along with ½ cup of water and the tofu and lightly toss together.

In a separate bowl, mix the 1½ tsp cornstarch with 4 tsp of cold water into a slurry.

Let your tofu and meat mixture bubble away for about 5 - 7 minutes then add your corn starch slurry and toss until your sauce thickens.

Once it has thickened, your dish is ready and you can sprinkle the green onion on top and serve with rice.