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My Vegan Mapo Tofu

There are many vegan mapo tofu recipes online that replace the pork with sautéed mushrooms. That tastes fine, however I was never served mapo tofu with mushrooms in China. Instead, my friend taught me to amp up the flavor by increasing the garlic and ginger. You need to let this dish simmer on a significantly hot flame for roughly 6-8 minutes to let the sauce soak into the tofu.
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Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons light oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • an equivalent amount of ginger
  • 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao), divided
  • 3 tablespoons broad bean (fava bean) sauce (doubanjiang)
  • 2 teaspoons fermented black beans
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
  • 1 block tofu cut into centimeter cubes
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1 scallion

Instructions
 

  • Mince the garlic and ginger. Grind the Sichuan peppercorns in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Cut the tofu into centimeter cubes. Slice the scallion into thin rounds.
  • Heat the oil in a wok or skillet on medium-high heat. When hot, add the minced garlic and ginger. When they are fragrant, add 1 teaspoon of the ground Sichuan peppercorns. Let it warm up a few seconds. Add the broad bean sauce. Stir. Then add the fermented black beans, soy sauce, and veg broth. Stir to make a sauce. Add the tofu cubes. Stir to coat, then let it bubble away on medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes. Keep the heat pretty high, and not a low simmer. Stir occasionally This will help the sauce reduce and soak into the tofu.
  • Put the cornstarch into a small bowl. Add the cold water and stir to combine. Then drizzle this cornstarch mixture over the skillet. Stir to let it thicken the sauce. Taste for salt. Pour into a serving dish and top with the remaining ground Sichuan peppercorns and scallion slices.