Chili Tofu Rice: A Lunchtime Integration Initiative (四川豆花饭)

Douhuafan is a Sichuan lunchtime restaurant classic. Can we adjust it to be a workday homecooking staple for you?

Sometimes when we make these videos, there's a bit of a tension. Through these recipes, we want to help try to transport you to a place that maybe you've never been – after all, you might not be able to afford a plane ticket to Chengdu, but you've probably got some sort of Asian supermarket local to you.

We want to help recreate these flavors at home, in your kitchen, but sometimes… in the process? The true essence of a dish can maybe get a little lost in the translation.

The Culture of Douhua Rice in Sichuan

For example, in South Sichuan, douhuafan (豆花饭), or chili tofu rice, is practically a lifestyle. Little douhua joints dot these cities, and come lunchtime you can see all manner of people piling into these restaurants and enjoying some delicious tofu rice.

But the keyword there is restaurants. This sort of douhua-style tofu's delicious, but making it at home is definitely a process - and the kicker is that it doesn't keep. Also, doesn't freeze.

So while we've covered true blue, straight-from-Sichuan chili tofu rice before… that recipe is probably better served for events and potlucks than it would be for random weekday lunches. And ‘random weekday lunches’ is, of course, the true essence of chili tofu rice.

Making an 'able-to-lunch' Tofu Rice

So for this, while we don’t want throw authenticity out the window… we’ll maybe let it chill a bit there on the sill.

What we we're aiming to accomplish here is whipping up well a couple things that can keep in advance and doing the simplest of possible cooking the lunch of - so that you can enjoy some delicious chili tofu rice from your work-from-home desk or maybe even your workplace, depending on your office.

This is going to be our plan of attack, logistically:

To do this, you're gunna need an electric kettle (or at least some way to get some hot, boiled water). Twenty minutes before lunch, take out your tofu - a block of soft tofu, ideally, but you could also use medium. Toss a teaspoon of salt into your container a bit on the side and dissolve it with the hot water from the kettle - this salt water soak'll help remove that grassy taste from the tofu.

Then, if you've got a work-from-home sort of set-up with a rice cooker handy, now would be a nice time to whip up some rice. But nuked leftovers would also be as good of a route as any.

After those twenty minutes of soaking, the tofu should be basically room temperature-ish. Drain the water, and to your container optionally toss in a bed's worth of beansprouts if you're in the mood. Nestle the tofu on, fill it all up with some more hot boiled water once again, and then this is ready to get devoured with your chili-laced dipping sauces… which are, of course, the true star of the dish.

Now… the dips below are admittedly sort of intense, but they can keep. You can prep, store, and fridge the dips in advance, maybe the weekend before. And to complete the meal – because things are a little light on veg as they stand, we'll also prep a mise-relevant Sichuan-style cold vegetable at the same time, and store it in the form of a mason jar salad.

So we’ll have three different dip and vegetable combinations for you choose from: (1) a toasted chili oil dipping sauce together with some cold celery on the side, (2) a chili bean paste dipping sauce together with a bit of lotus root, and (2) a chili and black bean dip which we sorted together with some broccoli.

First up, let’s get that tofu preparation in recipe form for you though:

Tofu Preparation

• One block of soft - or medium - tofu (嫩豆腐), ~300g.

• Salt, 1 tsp.

• Hot, boiled water.

• (Optional) bean sprouts.

• Enough rice to fill you up.

Process:

Option #1: Twenty minutes before lunch, dissolve the salt in with the hot boiled water and fill it up over your tofu. Let it soak for twenty minutes, then dip out the water, and refill with hot, boiled water (optionally placing the tofu on a bed of sprouts first).

Option #2: There's not much of an upper limit to the salt water soak. You could also do the salt water soak in the morning, and pack the tofu together with the brine. Dip out the water when you're ready to eat it, and refill with hot, boiled water (optionally placing the tofu on a bed of sprouts first).

Dip & Vegetable Combo #1: Toasted Chili Oil, Celery Salad

Note that the toasted chili oil can be replaced with Lao Gan Ma chili crisp, which is a very similar product.

Toasted chili oil (if making):

• Dried chilis, 50g. We used Sichuan erjingtiao (二荆条).

• Oil, 150g (or ¾ of a cup). We used Caiziyou (Chinese rapeseed oil), but you can also use Indian mustard seed oil or peanut oil.

• Aromatics for the oil:

  Ginger, ~1 inch. Smashed.

  Onion (洋葱), ~¼ of an onion. Sliced.

• Spices for the oil (optional but recommended):

  Cinnamon (桂皮), ½ stick.

  Star Anise (八角), 1.

  Fennel Seed (小茴香), ¼ tsp.

Smash one inch of ginger. Slice a quarter of an onion. Remove the stems from 50 grams of dried chilis and snip into ~2 inch sections.

Toast the chilis over low heat for about 7 minutes, until they deepen in color and become brittle. Remove chilis, shake out excess seeds in a wire strainer or colander. Transfer chilis to a mortar and pound into a coarse powder. (Alternatively, use a food processor or blender to pulse into a coarse powder.)

Heat 150 grams (¾ cup) of oil in a pot over high heat until smoking (about 220°C). Remove from heat and let it cool down a bit. Over medium-low heat, fry 1 inch smashed ginger and ¼ onion (sliced) in the oil for about 10 minutes, until onion is golden brown. Add ½ cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, and ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds. Fry for another 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.

Strain out solids and return oil to pot. Heat oil until it bubbles around chopsticks, about ~150°C. Add toasted chili flakes, mix well, and remove from heat.

Dip:

• Toasted chili oil -or- Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp, 1 tbsp.

• Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tbsp.

• Salt, ⅛ tsp.

• MSG (味精), ¼ tsp.

• Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒面), ¼ tsp.

• Toasted sesame seeds (熟芝麻), ¼ tsp.

• Chopped cilantro, ~1 tbsp.

Mix together right before you're ready to eat.

Vegetable:

• Cooked celery, ~200g.

• Seasoning:

  Toasted chili oil -or- Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp, 1 tbsp.

  Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp.

  Dark Chinese Vinegar (陈醋/香醋) or rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar, ½ tsp.

  Salt, ⅛ tsp.

  Sugar, ½ tsp.

  MSG (味精), ¼ tsp.

  Toasted sesame oil (麻油), ~¼ tsp.

To prep the celery: First peel the ribs. Slice the ribs in half, then chop into ~1.5 inch pieces. Blanch for ~30 seconds, then rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.

Add all the above seasoning to a mason jar and nestle ~200g worth of the celery in. Shake when you're ready to eat.

Dip & Vegetable Combo #2: Crispy Chili Bean Paste, Lotus Root Salad

Crispy Chili Bean Paste:

• Chili bean paste, 6 tbsp. This should be the ‘red oil’ variety which is standard in China (红油郫县豆瓣酱)

• Oil, 150g (or ¾ of a cup). We used Caiziyou (Chinese rapeseed oil), but you can also use Indian mustard seed oil or peanut oil.

• Aromatics for the oil:

  Ginger, ~1 inch. Smashed.

  Onion (洋葱), ~¼ of an onion. Sliced.

  Scallion, white part only, 2.

  Cilantro, 2 sprigs.

  Celery, 2 ribs.

• Spices for the oil (optional but recommended):

  Cinnamon (桂皮), ½ stick.

  Star Anise (八角), 1.

  Fennel Seed (小茴香), ¼ tsp.

Mince 6 tablespoons of chili bean paste finely, ensuring no large salty beans remain. Smash 1 inch of ginger, slice ¼ of an onion.

Heat ¾ cup oil in a wok or pot until smoking, then cool slightly. Over medium-low heat, fry 1 inch smashed ginger, 2 sprigs cilantro, 2 stalks celery, ¼ onion, and white sections of 2 scallions for about 10 minutes, until onions are golden. Add ½ cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, and ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds. Fry for another minute, then strain and return oil to pot.

Over medium-low heat, add minced chili bean paste to the oil. Fry patiently for about 15 minutes, aiming to stain the oil and crisp up the bean paste. The process is complete when the minced beans have dried up and feel like loose sand when pulled through with chopsticks. Remove and set aside.

Dip:

• Crispy chili bean paste (see below), 1.5 tbsp.

• Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tbsp.

• Sugar, ¼ tsp.

• MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp.

• Garlic, 1 clove. Minced.

• Toasted - or roasted - peanuts, 6. Crushed.

• Chopped scallion, ~½ tbsp.

Mix together right before you're ready to eat.

Vegetable:

• Cooked lotus root, ~200g.

• Seasoning:

  Crispy chili bean paste, ½ tbsp.

  Soy sauce (生抽), ½ tbsp.

  Sugar, ½ tsp.

  MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp.

  White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), ⅛ tsp.

  Toasted sesame oil, ¼ tsp.

  Chopped scallion, ~1 tbsp.

To prep the lotus root: Peel the lotus root and slice into ~1cm sticks. Rinse thoroughly, and soak the lotus root in water until you're ready to blanch, much like you were prepping potato. Blanch the lotus root until cooked, ~3 minutes. Strain, rinse. Add the seasoning to your mason jar, and nestle the lotus root on top.

Dip & Vegetable Combo #3: Chili Black Bean, Broccoli Salad

Dip:

• Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil with Black Bean, 1 tbsp.

• Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp.

• Salt, ¼ tsp.

• MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp.

• Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒面), ½ tsp.

• Toasted chili flakes or Thai Prik Bon, ½ tbsp or mix of 1 tsp chili flakes & ½ tsp smoked paprika.

• Chopped scallion, ~½ tbsp.

Mix together right before you're ready to eat.

Vegetable:

• Cooked broccoli, 200g.

• Seasoning:

  Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil with Black Bean, 1 tbsp.

  Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp.

  Salt, ¼ tsp.

  MSG (味精), ⅛ tsp.

  Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒面), ½ tsp.

To prep the broccoli: Cut the broccoli into florets and blanch for 1 minute. Strain, rinse. Add the seasoning to your mason jar, and nestle the broccoli on top.