P
Chinese · Sichuan Province
Sichuan Cold Tofu with Chili (Liang Ban Dou Fu)
Liang ban dou fu: cold silken or soft tofu dressed with Sichuan chili oil, soy, sesame oil, garlic, spring onion, and dried shrimp. An essential element of the Sichuan cold dish spread — the tofu provides neutral creaminess against which the complex sauce performs. Requires no cooking beyond boiling the tofu briefly if using silken, or simply draining firm tofu.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
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600 g
For the dressing
30 ml
Sichuan chili oil
quality — with sediment
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
15 ml
soy sauce
10 ml
sesame oil
Your own market
2 cloves
garlic
finely minced to a paste
Your own market
15 ml
Chinkiang black rice vinegar
optional, for brightness
Your own market
To finish
10 g
dried shrimp (xia pi)
soaked in cold water 10 minutes, drained
Origin · VietnamWismettac · Vancouver →
2
spring onions
thinly sliced
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Keep the tofu in the refrigerator until the moment of plating. If using silken tofu in a sealed tub, upend the tub onto a rimmed plate and unmould cleanly to present a cold cylinder. If using block tofu, drain thoroughly and cut into a neat slab. The tofu must be cold to the touch — this thermal contrast is half the dish.
2
Soak the dried shrimp in cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and press lightly dry. Set aside. They should yield slightly when pressed but retain a distinct firmness — if still hard and chalky, soak a further 5 minutes.
3
Combine the chili oil (with its sediment), soy sauce, sesame oil, and minced garlic in a small bowl. Add Chinkiang vinegar if using. Stir to integrate. Taste: the dressing should be fiery, numbing, deeply savoury, and sharp from the raw garlic. The chili oil is the primary flavour — if it reads thin or flat, the dish cannot recover. This is where the dish lives or dies.
From the canon — Chinkiang vinegar (镇江醋, Zhenjiang hei cu, Zhenjiang black vinegar) is China's most celebrated vinegar — a dark, complex, aged rice vinegar produced in Zhenji… Chinkiang Vinegar (镇江醋 Zhenjiang Hei Cu) — The Black Vinegar of Jiangsu →
4
Pour the dressing over the cold tofu in a slow, circular motion from the outside edge inward, ensuring even coverage across the entire surface.
5
Scatter the soaked dried shrimp evenly over the dressed tofu, then finish with the sliced spring onion. The surface should show a vivid red gloss of chili oil broken by the pale green of spring onion and the small, amber fragments of shrimp.
6
Serve immediately, while the tofu remains cold. The correct sensory experience is cold, creamy tofu against the concentrated heat and numbing quality of the dressing.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Artisan Sichuan chili oil, made in small batches with facing heaven chiles and Sichuan peppercorn; hand-pressed sesame oil; dried shrimp sourced from a Chinese grocer with high turnover.
02
Estate — A named, single-origin chili oil such as Lao Gan Ma crispy chili in oil (with sediment); good-quality toasted sesame oil; spring onions from a market rather than supermarket.
03
Market — A reliable commercial chili oil with visible chili flakes and sediment; standard supermarket sesame oil; packaged silken tofu, well within date.
04
House — Any chili oil to hand; bottled soy and sesame oil of ordinary grade. The dish will be diminished — the cold-tofu format forgives nothing in the dressing.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Tofu is cold to the fingertip through the packaging before unmoulding — if it has warmed, return it to the refrigerator before proceeding.
◇Smell. The dressed tofu should release a sharp, garlicky, roasted-chili fragrance immediately on pouring — a muted smell indicates a weak chili oil.
◇Touch. Rehydrated dried shrimp yield slightly under light pressure but retain a firm, springy resistance — not hard, not mushy.
◇Sight. The finished plate shows a vivid, even red gloss across the entire surface of the tofu, with no pools of oil at the base and no bare patches.
◇Where it lives or dies. The chili oil is the primary flavour and has nothing to hide behind — if it reads thin or flat, no other element in the dish can compensate.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Baijiu
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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