Mapo Tofu with Pork (麻婆豆腐)

Mince the green onion (1 stalk) into small pieces. When the dish is complete, we'll sprinkle it over top as a beautiful garnish.

Finely dice the shallots (3 ).

For some fragrance and heat, we'll use dried chili peppers. Our recipe will result in a very mild spice, so if you want more heat, use more dried chili peppers and/or stronger peppers. You can even experiment with your favorite fresh peppers.

Cut away the stems of the dried chili peppers (2 ) and discard. Then cut the chili peppers into smaller pieces, about 6-7 pieces.

Then, smash and peel garlic (2 clove). Mince them into small pieces.

Cut the mini sweet pepper (1 ) in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut into strips and then dice into small pieces. Repeat with the other mini sweet pepper (1 ).

We use two colors of sweet peppers for a beautiful variety of color, but of course, if you want to use just one color of pepper, that'll work just fine.

Tofu is packed tightly in a thin plastic box with a flexible plastic top. Instead of ripping the flexible plastic away, use your knife to cut along the four edges of the tofu (1 lb). While the tofu is still in the package, tilt the package to pour out the water that's inside.

In case of preservatives, my dad also likes to rinse the tofu under clean water.

If you're using firm tofu, you can optionally press the tofu with something heavy or with a tofu-pressing gadget to get the excess liquid out. We usually use soft tofu, which you should never press (trying to press soft tofu will simply make it disintegrate).

Once rinsed, the tofu is ready to be cut. Make one horizontal cut through the middle of the tofu. To stabilize the tofu block, your hand will need to be applying equal pressure to the side of the tofu that the knife is coming towards, so go slow and be careful as your knife nears your hand. Instead of continuing through once the knife meets your hand, you can definitely choose to back out the way the knife originally came.

Then, halve the tofu vertically several times to result in bite-sized tofu cubes.

From a top-down perspective, the first cut will result in two rectangles. Halve those rectangles into four thinner rectangles with two more cuts. Then, halve the tofu block across the rectangles to result in eight shorter rectangles, and make two more cross cuts on either side to find yourself with 16 beautiful cubes on top (and 16 beautiful cubes below!)

You'll want the cubes in a convenient dish that you can grab when it's their turn to cook, so transfer them to a plate.

Heat the wok on high heat. When the wok is just about to start smoking, lower the heat and add oil (1 tbsp). Swirl the oil around to evenly coat the wok. You can do this by either lifting the wok and tilting it around, or scooping the oil up the sides with a spatula.

Heat the oil for 30-40 seconds, and add the chopped garlic, shallots, and dried chilis. Fry the aromatics until they are fragrant, which should take 15-20 seconds.

Then add the pork (3 oz) to the wok. Thoroughly break up the pork so there aren't any big pieces of meat. Flip and loosen up the meat as your stir it in with the aromatics.

Stir-fry the pork for about a minute.

To the wok, add ground bean sauce (1 tbsp). Let it cook for a few seconds, then pour the water (1 cup) in. Turn the heat to low.

Add oyster sauce (1 tbsp), light soy sauce (1 tbsp), dark soy sauce (1 tbsp), sugar (1 tsp), salt (0.50 tsp), and chili sauce (0.50 tsp).

If you would like it spicier, or brighter, you can add more chili sauce, or even different types of chili sauces. In our recipe, we used Guilin Style Chili Sauce from Lee Kum Kee.

Next, add the tofu in. Soft tofu is very delicate, so don't dangle the dish so high that the tofu is freefalling way down into the wok. Instead, lower the plate into the wok and gently ease the tofu in.

Use your spatula to nudge the tofu around and into the sauce. Reduce the risk of breaking the tofu by scooping the spatula all the way to the bottom of the wok, underneath everything, and gently coming up. Stir everything gently so every cube of tofu is touching some sauce. Then, cover the wok with a lid.

In a small bowl, mix up a slurry with cornstarch (1.5 tbsp) and water (2 tbsp). Stir thoroughly until the cornstarch is well dissolved.

After 1.5-2 minutes of simmering the sauce and tofu, lower the heat and take the lid off the wok.

This is a great spot to adjust for color. Add more dark soy sauce (1/2 tbsp at a time) if you want to make the sauce a deeper color and add more chili sauce if you want to make the sauce redder. Gently stir in any additions to incorporate them evenly.

Then, thicken the sauce with the slurry by pouring it in slowly and gradually all around the wok. If you prefer a thinner consistency, you may not want to use all of the slurry. Stir it in gently to incorporate, again making sure to get the spatula underneath everything and scooping upwards.

Simmer the sauce for another 2 minutes.

Then, add about half of the chopped green onions (reserve the rest for final garnish at the very end) and all of the chopped sweet peppers. Add sesame oil (1 tsp) and mix it in. Turn off the heat.

If the consistency is to your liking (remember, the sauce will continue to thicken just a touch more as it cools on the table), then go ahead and plate. If you want to thin the sauce out a bit, add water, a tbsp at a time, and heat it back up for a few seconds. Then, plate and serve. Enjoy!

(If you want to serve a group of people with a range of spice preferences, provide a few servings of homemade chili oil at the table!)