Since a visit to Sichuan province in China in early 1989 I've loved the dish "pockmarked tofu."
We'll start with the simpler non-spicy version. If you're cooking for vegetarians, substitute one tablespoon of any type of soy sauce and a teaspoon of toasted sesame seed oil for the oyster sauce in the first recipe. Add the soy sauce two minutes from the end and the sesame oil as you turn off the heat.
1 pound tofu
1 scallion stalk, finely chopped
2 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil (peanut, corn or canola)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
salt
finely ground black or white pepper
Slice tofu into slabs 3/4 inch thick and pat dry with towel or drain for a few minutes
Heat flat pan or wok over high heat until smoking. Add oil and heat a minute longer. Gently place tofu slabs in pan, salt liberally and reduce heat to medium-high. Cook four or five minutes, until bottom of tofu is yellowish-brown.
Gently flip tofu slabs over and salt browned side. Add scallions at edge of tofu, making sure the pieces contact the surface of the pan.
Cook another three or four minutes, then break up tofu with spatula into rough cubes. Add oyster sauce, toss, cook another couple of minutes, sprinkle with pepper and serve.
This dish used two ingredients that are rarely found outside a
Chinese grocery store. The first is chili paste with soybeans.
Here in the US I use Lan Chi and Lee Kum Kee brands. If you have
trouble finding this, you can substitute bean paste with chilies
("doubanjiang") or even half chili paste and half black bean
paste or fermented black beans.
The second elusive ingredient is sichuan peppercorns, sometimes called prickly ash or fagara. If you can't get it, substitute black pepper.
1 pound tofu
2 scallion stalks, finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste with soybeans
2 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil (peanut, canola or corn)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seed oil
salt
ground sichuan pepper or black pepper
Slice tofu into slabs 3/4 inch thick and pat dry with towel or drain for a few minutes
Heat flat pan or wok over high heat until smoking. Add oil and heat a minute longer. Gently place tofu slabs in pan, salt liberally and reduce heat to medium-high. Cook four or five minutes, until bottom of tofu is yellowish-brown.
Gently flip tofu slabs over and salt browned side. Add chili paste and garlic at edge of tofu, making sure the pieces contact the surface of the pan and are exposed to oil. Toss scallions over top of tofu.
Cook another three or four minutes, then break up tofu with spatula into rough cubes. Add soy sauce and toss.
Cook another three minutes. Turn off heat, add
pepper and sesame oil, toss and serve.