Comments on: Winter Returns, and Comfort Food Rules Supreme

By: Tigers & Strawberries » When All Goes Awry…

Tigers & Strawberries » When All Goes Awry… — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 02:19:34 +0000

[...] that was going, I decided to start preparing to make dinner. It WAS going to be ma po tofu with dry fried string beans and steamed jasmine [...]

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:54:15 +0000

Andrea–first of all, thank you for pointing out my editorial error. I fixed it–the water chestnuts and cloud ears go in after the pork is cooked.

For a vegetarian version, I would use rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and discarded, water squeezed out and saved to use in the sauce, and caps diced. To these, I would add 8 ounces of fresh button mushrooms, minced finely–as if I were making duxelle. These, I would saute as I cooked the meat–in place of the meat. This will give a great textural contrast with the tofu and will taste awesome!

The brand that I favor comes from Taiwan and is made by the Ming Teh Food Industry Company. It has a yellow, red and blue label with a globe on it and very little English lettering.

I am glad you are enjoying the archives–check out the category titled “The Chinese Pantry,” where you can get my recommendations for brands of various ingredients.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:02:07 +0000

I found this old post when I was making ma po tofu the other night; I was using Fuchsia Dunlop’s recipe from Land of Plenty, but wondered if you had any suggestions for making a vegetarian version. (I did end up using cloud ears instead of the meat, which worked very well).

I can’t help but notice that in this version you apparently abandon the cloud ears after rehydrating and mincing them, and never use the water chestnuts at all — do you actually use either of these ingredients, and what do you do with them?

Any advice for a particular brand of chili bean paste? I don’t think mine is Sichuan, and it’s not very hot.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:31:44 +0000

Hello, Jen!

I read your recipe, and it isn’t that different from mine; it sounded good to me.

Sometime, try adding shao hsing wine or sherry to the ma po–it gives it even more tastiness. If you can believe that…

Great stuff, isn’t it?

Keep cooking!

By: Jen

Jen — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:17:00 +0000

Hi, I totally understand where you are coming from! I made ma po tofu on Friday night and it is all I can think about now. It was amazing! So hot and spicy, but so perfectly balanced that there was no after-burn. My recipe is a bit different from yours, but I’m sure both are great! All I want to do now is go on a mission at eat it at all different restaurants and compare them!