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Tofu with Hot Garlic Sauce (Sichuan Yu Xiang Tofu)

Top view of plate with Sichuan five spiced tofu stir-fry.
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Five spice tofu, veggies, plenty of garlic and chilies get stir-fried in a mouthwatering and addictive savory, spicy, and sour sauce in this Tofu with Hot Garlic Sauce!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Sauce:

  • ½ TBLS Potato Starch
  • 2 – 3 TSP White Sugar, more or less to taste
  • ⅛ – ¼ TSP Kosher Salt (note 1)
  • 1 TBLS Low Sodium Light Soy Sauce
  • 2 TBLS Shao Xing Rice Wine
  • 1 TBLS Chinkiang Vinegar
  • ½ TSP Dark Soy Sauce
  • ½ TBLS Sesame Oil
  • ½ – 1 TSP Pure Chili Oil (optional – without flakes/seeds), to taste
  • ¼ cup + 2 TBLS Water

For the Tofu with Hot Garlic Sauce Stir-fry:

  • 10 grams / ¼ cup Dried Cloud Ear Mushrooms (or Wood Ear Mushrooms – note 2)
  • 300 grams / 10.5 ounces Five Spiced Beancurd (note 3)
  • 1 Spring Onion (Scallion/Green Onion) – chopped, white and light green parts separated from dark green parts
  • 2 TBLS minced Ginger
  • 6 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 1 – 5 fresh Red Chilies (optional – note 4), I used Bird’s Eye, but any small hot red chilies will work), to taste – chopped
  • ½ small (about 50 grams/1.75 ounces) Carrot – peeled, julienned
  • 3 – 10 Dried Red Chilies (note 5), to taste – snipped into ½-inch pieces
  • 80 grams / about ½ cup sliced canned Bamboo Shoots (or use fresh – note 6)
  • 3 TBLS Peanut Oil (or other neutral flavored oil with a high smoke point)
  • 3 TBLS Lao Gan Ma Pickled Chilies Sauce (note 7)

Instructions

Prep:

  1. Soak the dried mushrooms: Add the dried cloud ear mushrooms to a bowl and fill with water. Soak for 20 minutes until rehydrated and tender. Drain and pat-dry, then slice into thin strips.
  2. Make the sauce: In a small measuring cup (for easier pouring) or bowl, mix together the potato starch, white sugar, kosher salt, low sodium light soy sauce, Shao Xing rice wine, Chinkiang vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, pure chili oil and water until combined well.
  3. Prepare the fresh and dry ingredients: Chop/slice the five spice tofu, spring onion, ginger, garlic, fresh red chilies, carrot, dried red chilies as indicated in the ‘ingredients’ section.
  4. Blanch the bamboo shoots and mushrooms: Drain and rinse the canned bamboo shoots. Slice into thin strips if they are not pre-sliced. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the sliced bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water.

For the Tofu with Hot Garlic Sauce:

  1. Stir-fry the aromatics: Heat 3 tablespoons peanut oil over medium-low heat. Add the pickled chilies sauce (carefully as it may splatter) and sauté for 20 seconds until shimmering. Turn the heat up to medium and add the spring onion white and light green parts, ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  2. Add the carrots: Turn the heat up to high and add the carrots. Stir-fry for 30 seconds until slightly softened.
  3. Stir-fry the chilies: Add the fresh and dried red chilies and stir-fry briefly for 10 seconds, taking care to not let the dried red chilies burn.
  4. Add the veggies: Add the sliced bamboo shoots and mushrooms and toss for 20-30 seconds until combined.
  5. Add the tofu and sauce: Give the sauce a quick stir with a spoon to loosen up the potato starch that will have settled at the bottom. Add the tofu and pour the sauce over everything in the wok. Stir-fry for 30-40 seconds, until the sauce thickens and clings to everything well.
  6. Toss through spring onion: Add the spring onion dark green parts and toss through briefly before switching off the heat.
  7. To Serve: Transfer to a serving plate or dish and serve immediately with warm steamed rice.

Equipment

Notes

  1. Kosher salt: Since the pickled chilies sauce is already quite salty and the five spiced tofu is pre-seasoned, you won’t need to add much salt. That said, you can add more salt if needed to taste. Use half the amount if using iodized table salt as it is more salty than kosher salt.
  2. Dried cloud/wood ear mushrooms: Although this dish is traditionally made with a Chinese wood ear mushrooms, I used dried cloud ear mushrooms. They’re both similar in texture, appearance, and taste. If using fresh cloud or wood ear mushrooms, you’ll need half cup (about 60 grams). Fresh cloud/wood ear mushrooms will only need to be rinsed before slicing and you can skip the soaking step.
  3. Five Spiced Tofu/Beancurd (wu xiang dou fu gan – 五香豆腐干): This is a dried tofu (dou fu gan) that has been marinated in soy sauce and other seasonings and spices (usually five spice powder). It is pressed tofu that is extra firm and brown on the outside with a whitish inside. It’s available in the form of small thin bricks in vacuum sealed packs. You can find it in Asian and Chinese supermarkets and shops selling tofu products in wet markets in Asia. Avoid purchasing one with sugar listed as one of the seasonings in the ingredients list. It may make the dish too sweet. You can use regular dried pressed firm tofu if you prefer.
  4. Fresh red chilies: Feel free to use less or more to taste and any other hot red chilies you like. Omit for a milder dish.
  5. Dried red chilies: I used Chinese Xiao Mi La dried red chilies here which are quite hot. Any type of small Chinese or Thai dried red chilies can be used though. Use less if using Thai Bird’s Eye dried red chilies as they tend to be hotter than most Chinese dried red chilies.
  6. Bamboo shoots: This is the tender part of the bamboo plant and is a vegetable that is commonly used in Asian and Sichuan cuisine. It’s available in fresh, dried, frozen, and canned form. Canned or fresh is preferred for this recipe, and I used pre-sliced canned pickled bamboo shoots here. Look for it in an Asian supermarket, at a Thai grocery shop, or online. Leftover canned or fresh bamboo shoots should be stored in a sealed airtight jar filled with water in the fridge. They will last for about 1 week if you change the water daily to prevent it from going bad. You can substitute with peeled and julienned celery, Chinese celery, or celtuce.
  7. Lao Gan Ma Pickled Chilies Sauce: “Yu xiang” dishes are traditionally made with pickled fresh er jing tiao chilies (pao la jiao – 泡辣椒) in the Sichuan region. They are difficult to source outside of China so I used Lao Gan Ma Pickled Chilies sauce. It’s a great substitute since it has a similar hot and tangy flavor profile. Look for it an Asian supermarket or purchase it online. You can use Sichuan pickled fresh er jing tiao chilies if you can find them. Or substitute with chopped Mexican or Thai pickled red chilies or sambal oelek in a pinch to yield a similar flavor. I used 3 tablespoons pickled red chilies sauce, but you can use 2 tablespoons for a slightly milder dish. Another good substitute would be Sichuan Pixian Dou Ban Jiang (fermented chili bean paste) which can be found at Asian supermarkets and online. However, I recommend using only 1-2 tablespoons dou ban jiang as it is quite salty.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thatspicychick.com/tofu-with-hot-garlic-sauce-sichuan-yu-xiang/