お料理（マーボー豆腐）

Another recipe from the chefs at Nintendo. When I told people at work that I was going to make this dish, they all thought I was crazy. "But, you can buy premade packages and just heat them up! Why make it all from scratch?" Because I'm incredibly bored. So why not?


Mabo Tofu

Yield: 1

Ingredients:

• 190 g momen tofu (coarse-grained tofu)
• 40 g ground pork
• 1/3 cm fresh ginger (can you believe this measurement?)
• 1/4 garlic clove (what a waste of a clove...I put a whole one in for shits and giggles)
• 1/8 stalk scallion (um, how much again? I hate these measurements)
• 1/2 tbsp potato starch (corn starch would work just as well)
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp salad oil (any kind of oil is fine)
• Dash of Japanese pepper (spicier than the American version)
• 1/2 tsp tobanjan (Chinese red chili paste)
• 1/4 tsp Chinese soup stock granules (some sort of spicy stock. But is it chicken? Beef? Pork? I have no idea)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp sake
• Dash of salt
• 1 tsp tenmenjan (black Chinese miso)

Preparation:

In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 tsp Chinese soup stock granules, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tbsp sake, dash of salt, and 1 tsp tenmenjan. Set aside.

Cut 190 g tofu into 1-cm cubes. Set aside.

Peel 1/3 cm ginger and mince finely. Peel 1/4 clove garlic and mince finely. Peel 1/8 stalk scallion and mince finely. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 tbsp potato starch and 1 tbsp water. Set aside.

Add 1/2 tbsp salad oil to a frying pan and set on medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and scallions and cook until they begin to smell strongly. Add 1/2 tsp tobanjan and 40 g ground pork and cook until the pork turns white. Add the soup stock mixture from earlier and bring to a boil. Add the tofu and bring to a boil once more. Add the potato starch mixture and stir well. Finally, add 1/2 tsp sesame oil and turn off the heat.

Transfer the stew to a bowl and add a dash of Japanese pepper.

***

I suck at mincing. And proportions. But I thought it tasted okay nonetheless. Also, beware of the Japanese pepper! I figured it was like American pepper and added quite a bit at the end. It wasn't inedible or anything, but it was pretty spicy.

How boring. I can't believe I'm reduced to posting recipes. Hopefully things will pick up once school starts.