“My easy-peasy one-dish-meal version of Mapo tofu”
Happened to chance upon a Japanese version of spicy bean paste at $2 Daiso store. Hence, made a dish with this instant paste and a block of silken tofu I had for quite some time as well as whatever was available in my refrigerator.
Simple and easy recipe I have created for tonight’s dinner. It was subtly tasted with just a hinge of spiciness from the bean paste. So, if you are a fan of super spicy dish, add chili oil to it.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 block of silken tofu, large cubed
1 bowl of sweet corn kernel, pre-boiled to cook and soften (from 1 sweet corn)
150g of minced meat, seasoned with light soy sauce and sesame oil
1 tablespoon of Japanese sesame sauce
1 tablespoon of Japanese spicy bean paste
150ml of fresh milk
Pinch of salt
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of butter
1/2 teaspoon of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water, made into slurry
Method
(1) Heat wok with oil and butter on medium fire. Brown garlic. Add pre-boiled sweet corn kernel and sauté till fragrant. Add minced meat and stir fry to cook.
(2) Mix spicy bean paste and sesame sauce in fresh milk and drizzle in circular from the edges of wok. Stir fry a little. Add tofu and sprinkle salt, gently stir fry to combine. Drizzle corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce. Serve with steamed rice.
This is relatively a 1-dish meal consists of vegetables, meat and soy. A serving of my mapo tofu counts about 200kcal.
Tips: Japanese sesame sauce is a kind dipping sauce, in fact. It’s available off the shelves in major supermarkets. It costs about $5-7 per large bottle.
* Japanese spicy soy bean paste is available at Daiso stores.
