SERVES:
4 - 6
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground pork
2 - 3 Tbs vegetable oil
2 blocks soft or silken tofu
3 Tbs minced peeled fresh ginger
1 - 2 Tbs jarred garlic chili sauce (or to taste)
approx. 3 Tbs soy sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chicken broth
scant 1/4 cup cornstarch
approx. 4 - 6 cups rough chopped watercress (optional)
steamed white rice as needed
PROCEDURE:
Plan ahead and steam some white rice to serve with this if you like.
Use a large, deep, heavy bottomed pan, or a wok, with a splash of vegetable oil on medium high heat to brown up one pound of crumbled ground pork.
Peel and finely mince 3 Tbs of fresh ginger and drain and remove two blocks of soft or silken tofu from the containers and rough chop those.
Once the pork has cooked and browned up a bit, add 1 Tbs or so of the garlic chili sauce, add a few shakes of soy sauce, add the minced ginger, add one cup of chicken broth, stir that in and bring it up to a simmer.
At this point, add another 1/2 cup chicken broth to a small mixing bowl, add a scant 1/4 cup cornstarch to that and whisk it up and also rough chop a big handful of watercress if you're using it.
Then add the cornstarch and chicken broth to the pork and let that thicken up a bit and then immediately add the chopped watercress and the tofu, gently stir to combine, let it warm through and it's time to eat.
HINTS:
Traditionally, Mapo Tofu gets its spiciness from szechuan pepper and jarred garlic chili sauce but, if you can't find the szechuan peppers in Asian markets or the specialty isle of larger supermarkets, just use the garlic chili sauce.
Be gentle handling the silken tofu so that it retains a chopped, cubed shape in the final dish.