Best Chef Chans Ma Paul Tofu With Minced Pork Recipes
IRON CHEF CHINESE - CHEF CHEN'S MAPO TOFU
I really respect Iron Chef Chen as a chef. He seems to be a wonderful mentor to many young chefs working under him. He caught my attention as a Iron Chef Chinese on Iron Chef TV program and really enjoyed watching him improvise many recipes. I learned a lot just by watching and copied many of his ideas from the show that I now incorporate into my cooking repertoire. Since then, I've looked for his cookbooks and found 4 in Japanese language. I love all his recipes, especially his famous Mapo Tofu or Mapo Doufu. His dad was a pioneer in introducing Szechuwan cooking to Japanese and he is known as a father of Mapo Doufu in Japan because he was apparently the first Chinese man to cook something so spicy as this dish in Japan. It is now very famous in Japan and Iron Chef Chen Kenichi continues with that tradition at his restaurants in Japan. I wish Chinese and Japanese sauces and other culinary ingredients are known in the West for their proper Chinese and Japanese names like most Indonesian or Malasian sauces ie sambal olek etc instead of using generic names such as bean sauce, etc because it can get very confusing using those generic names. For this dish, you need two Chinese sauces/pastes http://www.foodsubs.com/CondimntAsia.html#bean%20sauce. The first one is Chinese brown bean sauce/paste aka tenmienjan, tenmenjan, or tenmenjiang - it's made from soy beans and sometimes is called Chinese miso type sauce or sweet noodle sauce. It is dark brown in color and has a wonderful dark miso type flavor. The next sauce is Chinese chili bean sauce aka toubanjan or doubanjiang - it has soy beans along with hot chilies and is red color. Don't use regular hot red chili sauce since it lacks the complexity of soy beans found in hot bean red chili sauce. The other two Chinese ingredients you will need for this recipe are fermented black beans (you can usually find these bagged and are ready to use or in bottles) and Szechuwan peppercorn. Szechuwan pepeprcorn is optional though Chef Chen does use it. Chef Chen uses regular tofu (not firm or silken) for his recipe. If you cannot find green garlic chives also known as nira in Japanese, I would use combination green onion and garlic. You want the taste of garlic as well as color of green onion for this dish. Another item that he uses is Japanese chili pepper known as ichimi tougarashi ie crushed or minced red pepper and if you cannot buy this item easily, I would substitute by mincing Chinese, Japanese, Thai, or Korean dry red pepper. This is a very, very spicy version of Mapo Tofu and if you like, cut down on chili pepper and chili oil if you like this recipe milder. However, this dish goes so well with plain steamed white rice that you can eat and eat while your nose is running. I plan to post another of Chef Chen's milder Mapo Tofu recipe using Hoisin sauce in the future.
Provided by Rinshinomori
Categories < 30 Mins
Time 25m
Yield 6 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes. Heat enough water in a large saucepan, add 1/2 teaspoon salt and tofu pieces. Bring to boil and cook tofu on medium high heat for 8 to 10 minutes and remove from heat. Precooking tofu in water prevents tofu from breaking apart easily later. Set aside.
- While tofu is cooking, make cornstarch paste by mixing 1 T cornstarch and 1 T water. Set aside.
- Set wok on high heat for 1 minute until hot. Add 2 T vegetable oil and swirl the pan, then add ground pork, stirring to separate.
- When ground pork is browned, add Chinese brown bean sauce ie tenmenjan, tenmienjan, or tenmenjiang, Chinese chili bean sauce ie toubanjan or doubanjiang, fermented black beans, and ichimi tougarashi or minced dried red chili pepper. Continue to cook for 1 minute.
- Add chili oil, drained tofu pieces, chicken stock, garlic chives, soy sauce, and sake. Stir fry gently for 1-2 minutes.
- Add cornstarch paste to thicken and add sesame oil. Swirl gently and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium high heat. Sprinkle Szechuan peppercorn on top.
- Serve with steamed white rice.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 147, Fat 11.3, SaturatedFat 2.3, Cholesterol 11.1, Sodium 306.4, Carbohydrate 3.7, Fiber 0.2, Sugar 1, Protein 7.9
MA-PO TOFU (SIMMERED TOFU WITH GROUND PORK)
I have long enjoyed stir-fried tofu creations like ma-po tofu, a classic dish from Sichuan. But I found making them difficult. This version is easy and quick.
Provided by Mark Bittman
Categories dinner, easy, quick, weekday, main course
Time 20m
Yield 4 servings
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Put oil in a deep 10-inch skillet or wok, preferably nonstick, and turn heat to medium-high. A minute later, add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes, and cook just until they begin to sizzle, less than a minute. Add pork, and stir to break it up; cook, stirring occasionally, until it loses most of its pink color.
- Add scallions and stir; add stock. Cook for a minute or so, scraping bottom of pan with a wooden spoon if necessary to loosen any stuck bits of meat, then add tofu. Cook, stirring once or twice, until tofu is heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the soy sauce; taste, and add salt and red pepper flakes as necessary. Garnish with cilantro if you like, and serve.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 228, UnsaturatedFat 9 grams, Carbohydrate 6 grams, Fat 15 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 19 grams, SaturatedFat 5 grams, Sodium 523 milligrams, Sugar 2 grams
CHEF CHAN'S MA PAUL TOFU WITH MINCED PORK
At Wu Liang Ye in Manhattan, the Ma Paul Tofu is zippy with flavor, and yet its braised cubes melt creamily. With a little ground pork and leek for texture, the dish is simple to make, once the shopping is done, and comes together quickly. Take care not to overcook the tofu.
Provided by Jonathan Reynolds
Categories easy, quick, main course
Time 30m
Yield 3 servings (or 2 for addicts)
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Drain tofu and place on a cutting board. Slice horizontally into thirds. Return stack of slices to tofu container and cut into the tofu crosswise and lengthwise to make 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch cubes. Cover with water and set aside.
- In a skillet or wok over medium-high heat, stir-fry pork until no longer pink, about 1 minute. Add the oil, and when hot, add the leek, chili-soybean paste, garlic and peppercorns. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Pour the water off the tofu, and add the tofu to the skillet, shaking the pan so the tofu settles into the broth. Simmer until very tender, about 5 minutes. Serve with or over rice but never under it.
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