Mabo Tofu
(from AmericnJewl’s recipe box)
Source: Blue Tree House Recipes (http://www.bluetreegallery.com/bluetreehouse_recipe_mabo.html)
Serves 2 peopleCategories: Chinese, Japanese, beef, entree, not tried, with rice
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups liquid dashi soup base (Mix 1 1/3 cups water with 1/2 tsp Hondashi powder.)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 3 or 4 cloves garlic
- Ginger in equal amount to garlic
- 8 oz ground beef (we substitute a vegetarian meat product)
- 1 pkg tofu, (either Japanese silken or Chinese firm)
- 2 or 3 stalks green onion
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 tbsp corn or potato starch mixed in small amount of water
Directions
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Mince the garlic and ginger. Finely chop green onions. Dice your tofu.
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Blanch diced tofu in boiling water for about a minute. Then drain. This will firm the tofu pieces so that they won’t break easily when you stir them in the sauce later. If you don’t mind your tofu a bit crumbly, you can skip this step.
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Heat a sauce pan and stir fry the garlic and ginger in sesame oil for about a minute.
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Add ground beef (or beef substitute) and stir fry till brown.
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Add the dashi mix to your pan. Add miso and crushed pepper. To enhance the flavor, you can add a bit of cooking sake, soy sauce, and/or hot chili paste into the mix.
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When the flavoring is done, add your diced tofu gently and toss in the green onions. To stir, shake the pan so as not to break the tofu.
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Finally, slowly add the starch dissolved in water until you achieve the desired consistency (should be thick and saucy).
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You can serve mabo tofu with steamed rice like this. Add red chilli paste for extra spice.