Laoangmoh’s Yuxiang Tofu (鱼香豆腐)

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Serves 3­–4

The wonderful Andrew P a.k.a LaoAngMoh, sent over this lovely recipe for Yuxiang Tofu and we just had to share it with all of you! So what is Yuxiang Tofu?

Fish (Yu鱼) fragrant (xiang香) tofu (豆腐) is tofu stir-fried with a Sichuan style hot sweet and sour sauce. It is commonly named as Sichuan hot garlic sauce in restaurant and is one of most popular tofu recipes from Sichuan Cuisine.

You’ll need:

• 1 14- to 16-oz package of soft or silken tofu. Fresh is best but the shelf-stable pack will do if it’s all you have. Cut into cubes, each about the size of an individual Rubik’s Cube segment.

• 4–5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thinly

• 1 knob of ginger (about the size of your thumb), peeled and sliced thinly

• 3–4 green onions, sliced in half lengthwise, then cut into 1-inch (2.5-mm) segments

• 1 golf-ball-sized dollop of Pixian Doubanjiang (郫县豆瓣酱). You can find it online or at your local Chinese grocery store. You can find doubanjiang from other regions of China, but they won’t taste the same.

• Small bowl with a slurry made from 1/2 cup of water plus 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar (Very simple: use whatever starch variety you’ve got and whisk it up.)

• 1 cup of cool/cold tap water in a glass or bowl within easy reach
  
  
• 50Hertz Dried Red Sichuan Pepper — about ¾ teaspoon of the florets, roughly ground with a mortar and pestle. (No mortar and pestle? Whole florets are fine, too.)

• ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro

• Neutral oil such as canola or avocado

Let’s start:

Step 0: Get your rice going in a cooker or pot. Jasmine or short-grain Japanese-style varieties pair well with this dish. Make enough to feed the people at this meal.

Step 1:  Prep all your ingredients and have them at hand next to your stove.

Step 2: Heat skillet or wok to medium-high heat.

Step 3: When the skillet or wok is hot, add about 3­ to 4 tablespoons — a good splash — of cooking oil.

Step 4: Add garlic and ginger, stirring until just starting to brown.

Step 5: Add Pixian Doubanjiang, stirring and frying until you break up the dollop and it becomes super-fragrant.

Step 6: Add enough cool water to the skillet or wok to make a medium sauce (neither runny nor pasty).

Step 7: Add green onions, reduce heat to a high simmer.

Step 8: Add tofu, cover, and simmer for 4­ to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 9: Reduce heat to a low simmer and splash in the starch slurry a bit at a time, stirring between splashes, until everything starts to thicken up and get pleasantly glossy.

Step 10: Cover, turn off heat, and let sit for a minute while you find a proper serving bowl.

Step 11: Assemble: Put tofu dish in serving bowl, sprinkle liberally with 50Hertz Dried Red Sichuan Pepper, and scatter cilantro artistically over the top.

Step 12: Serve with rice, savor the tingles.

Download Recipe in PDF here