MA PO TOFU

Ma Po Tofu (creamier sauce, with veggies)
by Lilly K

Makes 6-8 servings.

Grocery store:
1 package firm tofu, cubed (I cut mine into 36 cubes).
2 cups frozen vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, beans, or any other you like)
2 tbsp soybean paste (more commonly found in Korean or Japanese markets than Chinese)
½ pound ground turkey (or ground beef, pork, or chicken)

Spice rack:
Oil for stir-frying (I use olive)
2 cloves crushed garlic
Salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup hot water
Black bean sauce (to taste)
Hot chili oil (optional, to taste)
Soy sauce (to taste)
Corn starch (to taste)
1/2 to 3/4 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS
1. Start heating pan on high heat. Rinse frozen veggies to help thaw and remove any bits of ice (but they don’t need to reach room temperature).
2. In a small bowl, mix hot water, soybean paste, black bean sauce, hot chili oil (purpose of water is to dilute soybean paste).
3. Sautee ground turkey with oil & garlic. Sprinkle with salt to season.
4. Add mixture from Step 2 to meat when meat is 75% done, stirring well.
5. When meat is cooked, add frozen vegetables, stirring to coat everything. Cover.
6. Veggies are already cooked, so they just need to be thawed and heated up. While waiting for this, mix corn starch and cold water to make a paste (the thicker you like your sauce, the higher concentration of corn starch). You could make this earlier, but it starts to separate pretty quickly, so you may need to re-mix.
7. When veggies are hot, taste the sauce. Add salt, soy sauce or more black bean sauce (if necessary) to taste.
8. Add tofu to pan, turning over a couple times—stir carefully so as to not break up the tofu.
9. Make a little “well” or “hole” in middle of pan, pushing ingredients aside.
10. Pour corn starch & water paste into well. Wait a couple seconds while it begins to cook up as a thick sauce. Then stir to coat everything with sauce and simmer a couple minutes.

We scoop rice into a big bowl, and spoon the ma po tofu over it ("one dish eating!").

NOTES
1. Traditionally, this dish is made with medium-firmness, “silky” tofu, but I personally don’t like it when the tofu breaks up too much—so I use firm.
2. I remove the garlic cloves at Step 4, but Hiroshi doesn’t fish them out until they’re on his plate.
3. Because I don't measure the ingredients, Step 7 is where I can make any adjusments to taste. I suppose I could just measure everything and then jot it down for future use, but I can't be bothered!
4. This is is HK, but i also add a smidgeon of XO sauce in Step 2. We bought a small jar of it 2 years ago just b/c we were curious. We don't use it for any other recipe besides this one. If you have one, lemme know!
5. I've also been meaning to try this with shrimp. When I do, I’ll let you know the results!