Braised Minced Pork Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 block soft tofu
- 100g ground pork
- as needed scallions, ginger, garlic
- small half bowl starch water
- as needed salt
- as needed chicken bouillon
- as needed MSG
- as needed dark soy sauce
- as needed oyster sauce
- as needed thirteen-spice powder
Instructions
- Cut the soft tofu into cubes.
- Chop the scallions, ginger, and garlic.
- Boil about half a small pot of water with 2 small spoons of salt.
- Place the cut tofu in a bowl. Once the water boils, pour it over the tofu in the bowl.
- Let it sit for 10 minutes and set aside. (Leaving it longer is fine too.)
- Heat oil in a wok and stir-fry the ground pork. (Use medium heat from here on.)
- Once the pork is cooked, add minced ginger.
- Stir-fry briefly, then add half a spoon of doubanjiang (chili bean paste).
- Stir-fry briefly, then add minced garlic. (Don't add all three together — garlic burns easily, so add it last.)
- Pour in water, about half a small pot. (Switch to medium-high heat from here on.)
- Squeeze in oyster sauce twice (about half a spoonful). Add 2.5 spoons of dark soy sauce.
- Add a small half spoon of chicken bouillon and MSG. The key ingredient: add about half a spoon of thirteen-spice powder.
- Once the water boils, add the tofu. (The tofu is soft — do not use a spatula to stir-fry from this point on.)
- Gently shake the wok and lightly move the spatula so every piece of tofu is submerged in the sauce. Use the spatula or a small ladle to continuously spoon the sauce over the tofu.
- Let it simmer gently so the tofu absorbs the flavors. Once the sauce comes to a boil, pour in the starch water in a circle.
- Now reduce the sauce. Still don't stir-fry the tofu with the spatula. Instead, move the spatula from outside to inside — the tofu will flip naturally. Change directions frequently, always pushing from outside in. Add half the chopped scallions midway. Keep the spatula moving until the sauce is fully reduced.
- After plating, sprinkle the remaining scallions on top.
- Scoop a spoonful over rice — the sauce soaks right in. Incredibly appetizing!
