Mabodofu recipe (by Marla Ayatsuka)
You will need
1 leek/green onion (large) chopped (set aside 1/4 cup for topping at the end)
about 1/4 cup ginger, minced
aboutt 1/4 cup garlic minced
400~500 grams ground pork (I used a beef/pork mix 80% lean, ground chicken would also work)
1/4 tsp of glucomannan (original recipe was - 1 Tbsp potato starch (katakuriko)
soft tofu (3 blocks)
4 Tbsp ザーサイ Szechuan pickles chopped
3-6 Tbsp 豆板醤（トウバンジャン）"tobanjan" (broan bean chili paste - a Chinese seasoning) - or more, the more the spicier!!!
7 Tbsp soy sauce - (could replace with nutritional yeast or quinoa soy sauce)
1.5 Tbsp cooking sake
1/8 tsp sweetener (original recipe was 3 tsp sugar)
Pork topping
*mix raw pork, soy sauce, sake, and glucomannan together well in a bowl.
Stir fry in pan.
When meat is almost done, add pickles, stir fry until heated.
Pour out of pan into a bowl and set aside. Don't wash the pan, use the same pan for the tofu.
* next time I make this I will probably brown the meat first and rinse it to release the fat, then add the soy sauce, sake and glucomannan.
Tofu and mabo sauce
In the same fry pan, add chopped leek onion (leaving aside about 1/4 cup for topping) 3 Tbsp of tobanjan (more if you like spicy), garlic, ginger, soy sauce. Once this is warmed, add tofu and stir very GENTLY until the tofu is warm and it has been covered with flavoring (changes color). Add about one cup of water and sweetener and stir fry until heated. To create a thicker sauce if desired you may turn off the flame, remove some of the juice and sprinkle a little bit of glucomannan in, stir well and return to the pan. Again always stir very gently with tofu, it will break up very easily. If you don't mind the consistency of the sauce without thickener, you may omit this step.
On a serving plater, pour all of the tofu and sauce into the platter. Top that in the middle with the pork/meat you set aside earlier, top with the remaining chopped onions. Serve hot!
