This is such a delicious dish that I often cook it at home – I love the texture of the silken tofu.
The original recipe comes from Fuchsia Dunlop’s Sichuan cookbook, Land of Plenty. I would advise everyone who loves Chinese cooking to buy her new book, The Food of Sichuan. In her recipe Dunlop uses fried, firm tofu with pork, but I prefer steamed, warm silken tofu and the flavour of beef – which goes really well with the black beans. For extra heat, sprinkle Sichuan pepper over the dish and add a spoon of hot chilli paste with the chilli and garlic.
Beef, black bean and silken tofu.Credit:William Meppem. Styling by Hannah Meppem
SERVES 4
120g beef fillet, thinly sliced
1 tsp Shaoxing wine
¼ tsp salt
1 block silken tofu, drained
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 fresh red chillies, cut into rounds
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp black fermented beans (available from Asian grocers), rinsed
200ml chicken stock
1 tsp light soy sauce
¾ tsp potato flour mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
2 shallots (spring onions), cut into rounds
½ tsp sesame oil
2 tsp chilli oil
1. Put the beef in a bowl, add the Shaoxing wine and salt and mix well.
2. Turn the tofu out onto a board and cut into cubes: 3 slices down the length and 4 slices across. Be careful, as you don’t want the cubes to break up. Place in a bowl that you can fit in a steamer.
3. Heat the oil in a wok over a high flame until slightly smoking, add the chilli, garlic and black beans and cook until fragrant. Add the beef and stir until fragrant, pour in the stock and soy sauce and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the potato flour mixture and stir as the liquid thickens. Add the shallot, then turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil and chilli oil.
5. Meanwhile, steam the tofu over a pot of boiling water until hot, about 5 minutes.
6. Place the tofu into a large bowl, then spoon over the beef and sauce. Serve immediately.
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