Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐) is a well-know, popular dish from Sichuan province. It's fully of spicy umami goodness. This is not that dish, but it's definitely in the same family. If you like mapo tofu, but you'd like something that's a bit quicker to make and contains even more garlic, then this is the dish for you!

Like mapo tofu, this recipe calls for a small amount of ground meat. I wanted to keep things vegetarian, so I replaced the meat with some minced black pearl oyster mushrooms. The author of the original recipe notes that either oyster or king oyster mushrooms would likely work well for this purpose.

Spicy Garlic Tofu

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 10-12 cloves garlic, sliced
• 120g oyster mushrooms, minced
• 1 small onion, quartered and sliced
• 4-6 Tbsp. water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1 Tbsp. spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱)
• 1 1/2 c. vegetable stock
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 450g extra firm tofu, cut into 2cm cubes (or 1 recipe extra-delicious tofu)
• 1 scallion, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add a bit of water, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, if the wok seems excessively dry. This shouldn't be needed if using ground meat, but will likely be necessary with the mushroom version as they'll soak up all the oil.
4. Add onion, increase heat to high, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add Shaoxing wine, hoisin sauce, and bean paste and cook for 30-60 seconds.
6. Stir in vegetable stock, pepper, sugar, and sesame oil and bring to a boil.
7. Combine cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. of the water to make a slurry and stir it into the wok.
8. Once sauce has reached desired consistency, stir in the tofu and cook until heated through.
9. Sprinkle with scallion and serve over rice.