eglamkowski's Journal: recipes

In support of johndiii and his slashdot recipe book I'll be posting recipes regularly in my journal. I will only post recipes that I've actually made myself and enjoyed.

For those who can't wait, there's always the usenet rec.food.* heirarchy, or this group that I am a member of.

For today's recipe, I bring you: Bean Curd in a Hot Meat Sauce, being a Hunan recipe that I've had several chinese friends refer to as mopo tofu (though that seems to be a very generic phrase as best I can tell...)

Even if you don't like tofu, try this recipe anyways (assuming you do like spicy food!).

1 lb firm tofu
1 cup ground pork (or turkey, I suppose...)
2 tablespoons white wine (I use rice wine)
cornstarch
4 tablespoons of peanut oil (that's quite a lot! Use less (2 tablespoons) if you are concerned about such things)
1 tablespoon hot bean sauce (or chile and garlic paste)
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup frozen green peas (or soy beans)
2 teaspoons hot pepper oil (I use 1 teaspoon cayenne)
1/4 cup chicken broth (or water...)
Salt & pepper to taste
2 scallions, minced
1 teaspoons sesame oil

Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes.

Marinate the pork in a mixture of the wine and one teaspoon cornstarch for a few minutes.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok and fry the pork.

Then add the tofu, bean sauce, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, peas and cayenne. Stir-fry for a minute or two.

Add the chicken broth and salt and cook over high heat until it boils.

Thicken sauce with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.

Garnish with black pepper, scallions and sesame oil.

Serve hot over steamed rice.

Random tips:

According to Jeff Smith (The Frugal Gourmet), you can get the garlic smell off your hands by rubbing them with used coffee grounds. Eat a coffee bean to get garlic smell of your breath. Or, my wife says in China they suck on bitter tea leaves to get rid of the smell.

According to me, use soy beans (shelled, not in the pod) any time a recipe calls for peas. They are tastier and healthier.

You can almost always safely substitute ground turkey for ground pork. Less fat.

Shop at asian grocery stores, if you have any in your area. They are almost always dramatically cheaper than chain stores. You'll probably have to learn some new vegetables, and will want to pay close attention to quality when selecting stuff, but if you are careful and adventurous, it's a great bargain.

Looks Good

[Saige]

This looks like a rather good recipe. The asparagus and beef looks good to, but I try to avoid beef most of the time. (Though I'll partake of it when it means enjoying a nice yummy bowl of pho ba)

Looks like I'll finally be picking up some hot bean sauce.

Reminds me that I have a good recipe for Szechuan Chicken that I should post in my journal.