Do you like authentic Chinese food? I like authentic Chinese food as much as I like American Chinese food. I lived in China for a year in 2013, and that is when I opened my heart to authentic Chinese food. My favorite is Sichuan style cuisine with Sichuan pepper, which makes the mouth numb.
Luckily, there are several different communities near the area where I live, and the Chinese community is not far from my home. When I miss authentic Chinese food, either I go to a restaurant or get ingredients in that neighborhood. Seasoning packages are super convenient for someone like me who doesn't know how to cook foreign dishes from scratch. The seasonings that I always get are Hot Pot (火锅), Spicy Stir-Fry (Ma La Xiang Guo, 麻辣香锅) and Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐) seasonings. Among them, Mapo Tofu is the easiest to cook as the only ingredient to prepare is tofu.
I got a product called Ah Hung Ma Po Bean Curd Seasoning, from the Chinese market. This Mapo Tofu seasoning is a spicy Sichuan flavor, different from the Americanized Chinese restaurant Mapo Tofu.
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| Ah Hung Mapo Bean Curd Seasoning |
Sichuan is the name of one of the provinces in China famous for its unique spicy food. Sichuan peppercorn, which creates a tingly numbness in the mouth, is a key ingredient in Sichuan food. If you haven't tasted Sichuan food yet, your first experience would be shocking. I remember the first time for me and I was like "What the heck is this?" It took me several days to discover what in the food caused the numbing. (๑°ㅁ°๑)
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| Back side |
Ah Hung Mapo Tofu seasoning contains 3 seasoning pouches. One pouch has 10 grams of fat and 9,000 milligrams of sodium, which is 375 % of the daily value. That is a lot of sodium.
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| Nutrition facts, ingredients & cooking directions |
Like typical authentic Chinese cuisine, this seasoning contains oil. Conveniently, seasoning is divided into 3 pouches. This product was less than $3 in the Chinese market.
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| 3 seasoning pouches |
Tofu is the main ingredient for Mapo Tofu, but you can add any kind of meat if you'd like to. I added pork and green onions. Silken tofu (softest tofu) is the best for Mapo Tofu. I got a one pound container of silken tofu from a Korean market for 99¢.
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| Tofu, pork, green onions & seasoning |
I ground the pork in a food processor and chopped the green onions.
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| Ground pork & chopped green onions |
Here's the cooking direction I followed:
1) Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and stir-fry green onion for 1 minute.
2) Add ground pork and stir-fry until cooked.
3) Add seasoning and mix well.
4) Add the tofu and some water and cook until the tofu is hot.
I used 2 seasoning pouches since I added a lot of meat. I didn't add any starch, but if you want the sauce sticky, add starch. If you are really lazy, just add tofu and seasoning. No need to be complicated.
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| Spicy Sichuan-style Mapo Tofu |
Mapo Tofu is such a rice-stealing dish. The spicy Sichuan flavor makes the mouth slightly numb, but it's such an addictive flavor. If you want to cook authentic Sichuan-style Mapo Tofu simply and easily, I recommend Ah Hung Mapo Bean Curd Seasoning.
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