Mapo Tofu Sauce

Usually, I make up the sauce for my dishes depending on ingredients that are handy in my kitchen, and depending on my mood.

A while back, I came across packaged Mapo/Mabo tofu sauce at FuBonn supermarket and was going through the list of ingredients when I decided to try and make my own version of it at home...

It was interesting to find this bit of trivia about this dish: A famous Szechuan recipe - the name Ma Po Tofu is roughly translated as "pockmarked grandmother beancurd," named for the old woman who supposedly invented the dish.

Anyway, so, as usual, this is a fairly loose adaptation and I lay no claims to authenticity - it is a fusion of Japanese and Chinese flavors - but, it turned out quite tasty with the things I threw together that I decided to make a note of it for future reference :)

Ingredients
1 pkg extra firm tofu, diced
sliced red and green chilies for garnish
sliced spring onion for garnish
1-2 tsp cornstarch or tapioca starch
water
for the sauce:
2 Tbsp black bean chili paste
3 Tbsp sambal oelek
3 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp red miso paste
1 Tbsp crushed Japanese dry red peppers (or Szechuan peppers)
4 Tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp Chinese 5-spice powder (optional)
1 Tbsp Agave nectar (optional)

Preparation

1. in a pan or wok add all the sauce ingredients plus some water as needed and bring to a gentle simmer
2. if sauce is too runny, dissolve the corn starch in a few tablespoons of water and gently stir it in to thicken
3. gently slide in the diced tofu and let it simmer some more
4. taste and adjust flavors
5. garnish with spring onions and sliced fresh hot chilies