Ma Po 2.0

Ma Po Tofu mass-consumption version

• 1 brick of silken tofu (16-20oz), cubed into 10mm (see below).  Firmer tofu is for n00bs
• .5C  dried shiitake broth made with 4 sliced shiitakes.  For extra flavor, use rice wine instead of water as the liquid base.
• 1TB cornstarch
• 2 TB oil
• 1TB crushed red chili flakes
• 2t sichuan peppercorns, toasted and finely ground
• 2TB soy sauce
• 1t fish sauce
• 1TB 辣豆瓣醬 (Chinese spicy chili broad bean paste, recommend donkey sauce)
• 1TB korean red pepper paste (substitute 1 TB red miso + 1 TB dark brown sugar if less spicy version desired)
• 1TB fermented black beans, rinsed of grit
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 green onions, whites and greens separated
• .5" minced ginger

The tofu
To cut the tofu: first cut the top plastic film off using scissors.  Then , cut off one of the bottom corners of the tofu box.  Place a small cutting board on top of the tofu box and then invert: now that you've just cut a vent, you should be able to pull the box off of the tofu without breaking the brick (save the box).  You'll probably need to do two cuts parallel to the cutting board plane to split it into thirds: this is the most annoying part: if you find it too annoying, just do one cut to split it in half (newb).  Then, cut the tofu from the top into 10mm squares: err on the side of smaller, being careful to keep all the pieces together.  Get that box you saved and put it back on top of the now cubed tofu, invert, and now your tofu will be MUCH easier to work with now that it's in a vented box.

The rest
-Mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon cornstarch with the ground pork and rehydrated mushrooms.

 -Heat the oil with the peppercorns on medium high heat.  After 30 seconds or when fragrant, add the chili flakes and cook until the oil is red and the chili flakes are darkened but not burnt (this can be tricky...).  When the chili flakes look done, scoop all the solids out with a strainer and set them aside: don't worry about being too thorough.

-Add the garlic, green onion whites, black beans, and chili bean paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute.

-Add the mushroom broth, rest of the soy sauce, ginger, fish sauce, and korean pepper paste and stir until uniform.  Heat through until thick, then gently add the tofu which should be easy now that it's in that neat little box and should drop without too much effort because of that vent.  Using a broad, flat, soft object (i.e. wooden spatula) very gently stir the tofu into the sauce and simmer for 1 or 2 minutes.

-Meanwhile, stir fry the marinated pork in a lightly oiled wok, breaking it up into tiny pieces.  You should fry the junk out of them into meaty crispies.

To serve, pour tofu mixture into serving vessel (or serve out of your cooking pot) and put the super meaty crispies on top- don't mix them in so they stay crispy.  Finish off with sliced green onion greens.