'Ma Po Tauhu' ala my version

I love this dish immensely and have tried many different versions of it at restaurants. What's the original taste of 'Ma Po Tauhu'? No idea! But I do know what i like about it though. One the aromatic spices and two the spiciness of it. Never cooked this before as I had no idea how to replicate it and have always been tempted to buy the ready mix at the markets but its so expensive! NZ$8/box for a mix!


While walking down the Asian market sauces aisle the other day, i chanced upon Spicy Bean Sauce aka Ma Po sauce and bought it at a hearts beat. So here goes my experiment:

Ingredients:-

-300gm ground pork scotch (much better than store bought mince)

-2 packets of silken tauhu

-about 2 tbsp of spicy bean sauce

-1 tsp of black bean garlic sauce

-1/2 tsp sugar

-1 tsp of chicken granules

-3 tbsp of 'Chiu Chow Chili Oil'

Brown the ground pork with some garlic (add in garlic later otherwise they will be too burnt) when the pork is 80% cooked, add in all the other ingredients and stir for another 3-4 minutes. Taste test and adjust the sauces to your liking. I added in the Chili Oil as it was not spicy enough to my taste but still i think that didn't work too well for me. Next time I'd add in some grounded red pepper flakes. I like it the way the name suggest it to me i.e. 'Ma Lat' spicy to the degree of numbness hehe...

Do try this, it is very very nice! Down side of this dish is that it makes you go for lots and lots of rice! Especially perfect on a cold day like it is here in Auckland now.