The Lion's Rear

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A Recipe for vegan mapo tofu which is quite delicious, especially when made savory like Kenji's Mom's Mapo Tofu (see below).

This recipe is a "traditional" sichuan mala mapo:

• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms

• 2 1/2 cups water

• 2-3 sticks green onion

• 1 cup canned chickpeas

• 1lb medium firm tofu

• 2-3 pieces garlic

• small piece ginger

• 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns

• 3 tbsp chili oil

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 2 tbsp doubanjiang

• 1 tsp cane sugar

• 2 tsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)

• 2 tsp potato starch

• sub the chili oil with neutral

• sub the cayenne, doubanjiang and sichuan peppercorns with 2:2:1 mirin, sake, soy

• Place the dried shiitake mushrooms and the 2 1/2 cups water into a small saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil, then let it cook for about 10min

• Finely chop the green onions. Rinse and drain the canned chickpeas, then mash with a fork into a crumble

• Drain the water from the medium firm tofu. Then, slice into bite sized cubes

• Pour out and set aside the mushroom water. Cool down the shiitakes with cold water. Then, squeeze out the excess liquid, remove the stalks, and finely chop. Finely chop the garlic and ginger

• Heat up a sauté pan to medium heat. Add in the Sichuan peppercorns and toast for about a minute. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and crush

• Heat the sauté pan back to medium heat. Add in the chili oil followed by the crumbled chickpeas and shiitakes. Sauté for a couple of minutes

• Add the ginger and garlic. Sauté for 2-3min. Add the cayenne pepper, doubanjiang, and toasted Sichuan peppercorns. Give the pan a good stir

• Add the mushroom water, cane sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and optional dark soy sauce. Give the pan a good stir

• Make a slurry by stirring together the potato starch with 1 tbsp of water. Then, slowly pour the slurry into the sauce while stirring. Gently add and stir in the tofu. Then, allow the sauce to bubble away for another minute

• Plate and garnish generously with the freshly chopped green onions. Serve with freshly steamed rice!