Mapo Tofu

Soft tofu in a red, oily sauce of fermented chili bean paste and black beans, with crisp ground beef and a numbing finish. Spoon it over a lot of rice.

Poach the tofu in salted water before it goes near the wok. Three minutes firms the outside so the cubes survive the sauce, and it seasons them all the way through. After that, push it around with the back of a spatula. Stir it like a stew and you get tofu scramble.

Chef's shortcut: Szechuan Crack does two jobs here: 2 tsp fried into the red oil, 1 tsp over the top at the end for the numbing hit. It's already salted, so taste before you add more soy. Get it at Crack Spice

Ingredients

• Tofu
• 2 14-oz blocks soft or medium tofu, not silken, in 3/4-inch cubes
• 6 cups water
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• Sauce
• ¼ cup neutral oil
• 8 oz 80/20 ground beef
• 3 tbsp doubanjiang (Pixian chili bean paste)
• 1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tbsp Szechuan Crack numbing chili seasoning, divided, or 1 tsp ground toasted Sichuan peppercorns and 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1½ cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1½ tbsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp cold water
• To finish
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 4 cups cooked jasmine rice, hot

Method

1. Bring the 6 cups water and the salt to a simmer in a saucepan. Slide in the tofu and hold it at a bare simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it in the water while you make the sauce.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high. Add the beef, break it up small, and fry until it's dry, brown and crisp at the edges, about 6 minutes.
3. Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the doubanjiang and black beans and fry, stirring, until the oil turns deep red and smells rich, about 2 minutes. Too hot and the paste burns and turns bitter.
4. Add the garlic, ginger and 2 teaspoons of the Crack Spice and stir 30 seconds. Add the Shaoxing, stock, soy and sugar and bring to a simmer.
5. Drain the tofu well and slide it into the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes, pushing it gently with the back of a spatula now and then, so the tofu takes on the sauce.
6. Stir the cornstarch and cold water together. Pour a third of it around the edge of the wok and push the tofu gently until the sauce bubbles and thickens, about 30 seconds. Repeat until the sauce clings to the tofu and red oil sits on top. You may not need all of it.
7. Taste, and add salt only if it needs it. Fold in most of the scallions off the heat. Spoon over the rice and finish with the last teaspoon of Crack Spice and the rest of the scallions.