I love Sichuan cuisine but sadly San Diego does not have good Sichuan cuisine restaurants. So when you crave for it, you gotta make some at home. Today’s lunch was Mapo tofu. Mapo tofu is traditionally made with tofu and ground pork/beef, liberally seasoned with garlic, Sichuan spices such as fermented broad bean paste called Doubanjiang, and aromatic Sichuan peppers which gives this dish its signature flavor profile of Sichuan province. Sichuan food is not just “hot and spicy.” It is a balance of 7 flavors: salty, acid, pungent, nutty, sweet, bitter, and of course, spicy .
To veganize this recipe I’ve substituted ground meat with a combination of minced dry and fresh shitake mushrooms. Dried shitake mushroom is used so that the water used to rehydrate it can be used as stock instead of chicken stock. This recipe is by no means authentic, and I have made modified it to suit our taste.
I’ve used gochujang paste for the meaty depth and a slight sweetness it imparts. Shaoxing wine is a key ingredient in Chinese cooking which I did not have in my pantry. I substituted it with rice vinegar.
Due to the ingredients involved this recipe feels intimidating but trust me, this is one of those easy recipes you will want to make often and is ready under 30 minutes!

INGREDIENTS:
400 gms soft tofu (drained and cut into cubes)
15 gms dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tsp sesame oil
150 gms fresh shiitake mushrooms
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp potato starch(can use corn starch)
1 tbsp tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tbsp gms douchi (fermented black beans, roughly chopped)
1 tsp ground Sichuan pepper(lightly toasted and crushed)
1 tbsp doubanjiang
1 tsp gochujang paste
50 gms scallions (white part only minced)
2 extra-large cloves garlic (minced)
1-inch ginger (minced)
Scallion greens (chopped for garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Lightly rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms off, removing any dirt or debris in the gills. Place them in a bowl and cover with 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to rehydrate.
2. When the shiitakes have rehydrated, squeeze any excess water out of them and trim off the stems and roughly chop.
3. Measure out 3/4 cup of mushroom stock
4. Use a food processor to grind the rehydrated shiitakes together with the fresh mushrooms to make your vegan meat. You can use a knife to mince them up as well.
5. Marinate the ground mushrooms with the rice vinegar and soy sauce.
6. Fill a pan with water and bring it to a boil. Add a handful of salt along with the tofu and cook for 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the tofu into a colander and let it drain.
7. In a frying pan add the oil, when oil is well heated, add douchi, doubanjiang, and about half of the Sichuan pepper to the oil and fry for a few seconds until fragrant.
8. Add the scallions, garlic, ginger, and ground mushrooms and stir-fry till the mixture is caramelized and reduced to half in volume.
9. Stir in potato starch into the mushroom stock with a pinch of sugar. Add the mushroom stock, tofu, and sesame oil and toss together until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency, and the tofu is evenly coated. Be sure to stir gently so that the tofu doesn’t fall apart.
10. Dust with additional Sichuan pepper to taste. Garnish with the scallion greens and serve with rice.