Ma Po Tofu (or Maybe Mala Doufu?)

Whenever I think about Ma Po Tofu I get that Warren Zevon song, "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me" stuck in my head. I'm sure it's because of his inarticulate singing, more like "Po Po Pidifl Me". I can say that because I liked Warren Zevon and was around way back then. We happened to have some incredible Ma Po Tofu in Vermont and it made me want to try to recreate it. I'll be the first to say that this is not authentic*, but damn, is it good! Even if it's not the real thing, it's got all the right flavors. And it's mostly pantry ingredients and super easy, too.

Ma Po Tofu

Sauce
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp chili paste
1 Tbsp black bean paste
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water (or broth)

1 # extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed
1- 2 Tbsp peanut oil

1/2 cup chicken seitan, minced
1 Tbsp garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
2 Tbsp green onions, white parts only, sliced thinly
Pinch of white pepper

Mix together all the sauce ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Set aside.

Heat the oil in your wok or frying pan. Saute the tofu cubes until lightly browned. Remove the tofu and set aside.

Brown the minced chicken seitan in the wok, adding more oil if needed. If you don't have chicken seitan on hand, you could sub just about any other protein. Try beefy seitan, minced tempeh or even crumbled up Gimme Lean. Minced mushrooms would work, too. When it's lightly browned, add the garlic, ginger, pinch of white pepper and white part of green onions and cook for another minute or two. Add the tofu cubes and the sauce, turning the heat down so it is just barely simmering. Let simmer 10-15 minutes so the tofu gets all slathered with the sauce. Mix the cornstarch slurry and add it to the pan, stirring because it will thicken quickly. The sauce should really stick to the tofu.

Serve over rice, garnishing with green onions if desired.

*How inauthentic? Really inauthentic!

1. Most recipes I found online use soft tofu. It's gently added to the sauce at the last minute and barely stirred.

2. If a renegade cook used firm tofu, it might be blanched in hot water, but rarely (if ever?) sauteed in oil.

3. The dish is supposed to be red. And oily. (Ewwwww.)

4. No Szechuan peppers here. Just because I don't have any. Next time, I'd add some.

5. No brown sugar either. For some reason, it's typically used. I could have used brown, but I cooked before I researched.

6. This is actually more like Mala Doufu according to Wikipedia. It's Ma Po made with only tofu.

Everything I know about Ma Po Tofu (and Ma Po herself) came from Wiki. Check it out for yourself!