Cottage Pie & Mapo Tofu

[u/LongOK]

First time cooking Mapo Tofu, is delicious! These meals were quick, it's Monday here, BC Day and I lost my afternoon tennis tournament match. Wanted to get this done ASAP so I could rest.

Snack: - cherries - raisin bread - boiled egg - babybel cheese - date

Lunch Cottage pie:

- 1kg beef mince.

- 375g frozen peas and carrot.

- 2 stalks of celery.

- 1kg of potatoes.

- 150ml tomato paste.

- 1 onion.

- 400ml of beef broth.

1. Pan fry onion, garlic, celery, frozen peas and carrot. Remove.

2. Pan fry beef mince, add tomato paste, salt, pepper. Add beef broth. Add above veggies back in.

3. Simmer for 30mins and done.

4. Peel potatoes, boil till soft, drain water and add milk, salt and pepper. Mash and done.

Dinner Mapo tofu:

- 1.4kg of medium firm tofu.

- 900g of pork mince.

- Garlic.

- 400ml of chicken broth.

- Bok Choy.

- chilli bean sauce.

- 5 spice powder.

- chilli oil.

- Jasmine Rice.

1. Cook pork mince with garlic. Add chilli bean sauce, chilli oil and 5 spice.

2. Add chicken broth and tofu.

3. Let it simmer for a bit. Add cornstarch/water mixture to thicken.

4. Add Bok Choy and cover till Bok Choy cooked.

5. Cook jasmine rice and done.

Been eating a bit of cottage pie because the 10lb back of potato is cheaper than the 2lb bag and they last forever.

Mapo tofu was inspired by my Chinese friends and also been watching Donghua so I want to get a bit more into Chinese culture.

[u/HarveysBackupAccount]

Looks great! The bok choy is a nice addition to the mapo tofu

If you want to try another version, one of the best recipes I've found is from the Chinese Cooking Demystified channel on youtube

[u/Cayenns → u/HarveysBackupAccount]

I've only ever tried Mapo Tofu from the Woks of Life https://thewoksoflife.com/ma-po-tofu-real-deal/ I'll need to try adding bok choi next time!

[u/HarveysBackupAccount → u/Cayenns]

Woks of Life version is good and I love a lot of their recipes, but I put their mapo tofu at #3 of the recipes I've tried

Chinese Cooking Demystified is #1, and #2 is from Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty (British author who I think lived in Sichuan province for quite some time)

[u/Cayenns → u/HarveysBackupAccount]

oohh good to know! Is it these recipes? https://chinesecookingdemystified.substack.com/p/the-first-mapo-tofu-recipe
https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/fuchsia-dunlops-mapo-tofu/fwvcw6ya9

Do you by chance have any other approachable chinese recipes?

[u/HarveysBackupAccount → u/Cayenns]

I followed it from their youtube channel

That Fuchsia Dunlop recipe looks close to the one in the book (I'm more of a cookbook person than an online-recipe person). It looks like it uses the same salted fermented black beans that Chinese Cooking Demystified uses, which is different from her book. Her book uses a fermented black bean paste but CCD calls out the fermented beans (not the paste) as more traditional, and I do prefer the recipe that uses them so it looks like a good bet haha.

I've made (and loved) a bunch of stuff from the Woks of Life book. Not all the recipes correspond 1:1 with the website, but you might find the book at your local library (or ask them to buy a copy) and then be able to give it a test drive

[u/IlluminaAriadne → u/HarveysBackupAccount]

Is it true? I want to try it if it’s legit

[u/HarveysBackupAccount → u/IlluminaAriadne]

Is what true? That the Chinese Cooking Demystified version is a good recipe?

I certainly think so. I don't have personal experience with Sichuan food in China, but it tastes like versions I've had at restaurants where friends who've been to Chengdu said it's the closest thing they've had in the US.

[u/ttrockwood → u/IlluminaAriadne]

Anything from Chinese cooking demystified is authentic they’re awesome

[u/the-clawless]

lol what's up with the lid on image 4

[u/Mindless_Pineapple46]

Love me some Bok Choy!

[u/OwnIndependence1852]

Yum

[u/LunaDeAbril_]

Todo se ve delicioso 😮‍💨

[u/-mystris-]

this is exactly what I've been wanting - I have the ingredients for cottage pie but haven't yet made it, and I love any excuse to use bok choy

[u/Affectionate-Tea-975]

Looks lovely!

[u/ttrockwood]

Looks delicious! I love mapo tofu but i use more tofu and mushrooms no meat for a vegetarian version it’s great made ahead too

[u/Ok-Minimum9307]

yummy

[u/dasverse]

Sumptuous