Rika's Ma Po Tofu

Ma Po Tofu is a representative Sichuan dish. Ground meat and tofu can be enjoyed with spicy chili peppers. Today, Rika is making 3 dishes, featuring Tokyo-style Chinese cuisine. Rika's Ma Po Tofu has fluffy tofu pieces and the spiciness and the sweetness goes well together. Rika's Ma Po Tofu [Ingredients] *Serves 2 300 to 350g momen tofu (or firm tofu) 100g ground pork 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger 2 tsp grated garlic 1/2 naganegi long onion (or leek or spring onion) 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp doubanjiang (Sichuan chili-bean paste) 1 tbsp tianmianjiang (Chinese sweet bean paste) 1 tsp gochujiang (Korean chili paste) 1/2 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce) 1 tsp powdered sansho pepper 1 tbsp potato starch (or corn starch) 2 tbsp water [Method] 1. Grate ginger and garlic. Roughly chop the long onion. Cut the tofu into 1.5 cm cubes. Place them in a strainer and cook briefly in the boiling water until they start moving. 2. Heat the frying pan over the medium heat. Put vegetable oil in the pan and heat doubanjiang, tianmianjiang and gochujiang. Add the grated garlic and ginger. After that, add the ground pork. Cook the ingredients until most of their moisture is gone. Add the leek at this point and cook it lightly. 3. Add water, soy sauce and nam pla. After mixing them in the pan, add the sansho pepper. When the mixture comes to simmer, add the potato starch dissolved in 2 tbsp water. 4. Add the tofu at this point. Mix the tofu with the sauce, and heat the mixture about 30~40 seconds to thicken the sauce. Stir-fried Egg and Tomato [Ingredients] *Serves 2 2 eggs 1 medium tomato Salt 2 to 3 shiso leaves 1 pinch salt (to flavor the egg) 1 tsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce) 1 tsp sesame oil [Method] 1. Roughly cut the shiso leaves. Mix the eggs with a pinch of salt and nam pla, and add shiso leaves. 2. Cut a tomato into bite-size and sprinkle salt over the tomato. 3. Put sesame oil in a frying pan when the pan gets heated. Sautee the tomato just lightly. Add the egg mixture in the pan and gently mix them with spatula. Turn off the heat after it started to solidify and cook with the remaining heat. Dessert Spring Roll with Mochi [Ingredients] *Serves 4 4 spring roll wrappers 4 tbsp shiratama-ko (glutinous rice flour) 4 to 5 tbsp water 4 tsp anko (sweet red bean paste) 4 tsp apple jam or apple sauce Vegetable oil for deep-frying [Method] 1. Add water in shiratama-ko and mix. 2. Place the mixed shiratama-ko at the center of each spring roll wrapper and place the anko or apple jam on it. 3. Roll up the wrappers as if you are wrapping a present. Put water at the end before you finish folding. 4. Deep fry the spring rolls in the 160 °C oil until they become golden brown.