Ma Po Dou Fu 麻婆豆腐 Tofu WIth Spicy And Numbing Mince Sauce

I made this specially for my blogger friend Ija from Arah at our old place and for some reasons it was never posted. Since she is back blogging I thought I might just give her a little reward for her  comeback. One would have easily guessed why it has such a peculiar name by the direct translation of the dish (麻婆豆腐 literally translates as pock-marked lady or granny's tofu) so I am not going to bore you with the origin of the dish. A popular dish served at most Chinese restaurants even before the new wave of Sichuanese restaurants popped up everywhere in the recent years, the problem is they all served the dumped down versions for westerners and I am no fan of that! Thanks to Fuchia Dunlop's Sichuan Cookery I was able to produced a dish that completely cured my Sichuanese friend's homesickness, well ..... for a little while at least.
P.S I should be able to put up a Malaysian Monday post on Wednesday so remember to come back for that!

serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal
you'll need;
1 block (500 g) of firm tofu, cut into 2 cm cubes*
250 g of minced beef**
1 tbs of dark soy
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 bird chillies, chopped
3 spring onions, cut at an angle (horseshoe shapes)
4 tbs of hot bean paste
1 tbs of black bean, rinsed
2 tbs os light soy
dash of Chinese cooking wine
250 ml of chicken stock
corn flour solution
1 tbs of Sichuan peppercorn, dry roasted and crushed
chili oil (optional)
* simmer tofu with salted water before adding into the minced sauce.
** brown mince before hand if your stove is not that powerful.

Marinate minced beef with dark soy for at least 20 minutes. Prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Crucial seasonings; hot bean paste, fermented black beans and sichuan peppercorns.

Saute chopped ingredients with 3 tbs of cooking oil til fragrant then add in the hot bean paste. When the oil has turn an attractive red, add in the fermented black beans.

Return the mince and continue to cook for 30 seconds, breaking up the mince as you go.

Add stock and seasonings and when it comes to a boil, add the tofu. Be careful not to breakup the tofu.

Finally thicken the sauce with some corn flour solution.

Sprinkle with the toasted sichuan pepper and serve immediately as part of a Sichuanese meal.