Mapo Doufu: Dunlop's Authoritative Recipe Summary

Ingredients

• 400 g silken tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 2 tbsp doubanjiang, Pixian chilli bean paste
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 tbsp douchi, fermented black beans, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• equivalent to 3 cloves garlic fresh ginger, minced
• 100 g ground pork
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 200 ml hot chicken stock
• For the slurry
• 1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tbsp cold water
• 2 tbsp chilli oil, plus extra to finish
• 1 tsp Sichuan pepper, toasted, freshly ground
• to taste salt, for blanching water

Method

1. 1
   Bring a pan of salted water to a gentle simmer. Add the tofu cubes and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain carefully and reserve. The cubes should hold their shape and be uniformly heated through — the surface will appear just set.
2. 2
   Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium-low heat. Add the doubanjiang and fry, stirring constantly, for 3–5 minutes. The dish lives or dies here: the paste must be cooked long enough and at the right temperature for the oil to turn a deep, translucent red and the raw fermented smell to mellow into a rounded, fragrant heat.
3. 3
   Add the roughly chopped douchi. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until the black beans are fragrant and have absorbed the red-stained oil.
4. 4
   Add the minced garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until their raw sharpness gives way to a warm, aromatic bloom.
5. 5
   Add the ground pork. Break it up continuously against the wok. Cook until no pink remains and the meat has taken on the colour of the surrounding paste.
6. 6
   Add the Shaoxing wine and light soy sauce. Stir to combine. The sharp alcohol note from the wine should rise and begin to dissipate within seconds.
7. 7
   Pour in 200 ml of hot chicken stock and bring to a simmer. The liquid should be lively but not boiling hard — small, steady bubbles breaking the surface.
8. 8
   Slide the blanched tofu into the wok. Do not stir with a spoon; swirl the wok gently to move the tofu and coat it in the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. The tofu will absorb colour from the paste and the sauce will reduce slightly.
9. 9
   Add the cornstarch slurry in a thin stream, swirling the wok continuously. The sauce will tighten and cling to the tofu within 30–60 seconds; it should coat a spoon with a glossy, lightly bound consistency rather than pooling freely.
10. 10
    Add 2 tablespoons of chilli oil and stir gently to incorporate. The surface of the dish will take on an additional sheen of red.
11. 11
    Transfer immediately to a serving bowl. Scatter 1 teaspoon of freshly toasted and ground Sichuan pepper evenly over the surface, and finish with a further drizzle of chilli oil. Serve at once — the numbing tingle of the pepper should be perceptible from the first breath over the bowl.