| Chinese name: 家常豆腐 (jiā cháng dòu fǔ) Style: Sichuan (Szechuan) Cuisine Characteristics: Home-style tofu is red-gold in color and should be soft in texture. In this recipe it should taste salty, fresh and a little bit hot and sweet. The 'home-style sauce' is typical of Sichuan Cuisine, and is made by combining bean paste with chili, salt and sauce, which from the staples of many people's meals in Sichuan. A common accompaniment to this dish is rice, as it is nutritious but simple to cook. As you are making the sauce yourself, you can alter the quantities according to your own taste. |  |
| Ingredients: 100 g lean pork (or beef); 250 g firm(hard) tofu; 1 green pepper; 1 red chili pepper |  |
| Seasonings: salt cornstarch white sugar cooking wine soy sauce broad bean paste Note: the amount of the seasonings listed above can be appropriately used according to one's personal taste. |  |
| Preparation: 1. Clean the pork and cut into slices, about 2-3 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. Put it into a dish. 2. Clean the firm tofu and cut into triangular or diamond-shaped chunks. Put it into a dish. 3. Remove and discard the seeds from the peppers, then clean with water. Cut into chunks and put into a dish. |  |
Methods:
| Step 1: Pour the soy sauce and corn starch over the pork (cooking wine, salt, chicken essence could also be added in to get rid of the fishy smell of the meat). Stir well it with chopsticks until all the meat pieces are fully coated. |
 |
| Step 2: Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add some cooking oil, and add the tofu chunks one by one with chopsticks once the oil is sizzling. Fry over a low heat until both sides of the tofu chunks turn yellow. Turn off the heat and place the tofu chunks into a colander on a small basin to drain the oil. |
 |
| Step 3: Turn on the heat, and add some cooking oil again until hot, swirling to coat all sides. Add in the broad bean paste and stir-fry for 20 seconds until fragrant. Add the marinated pork, soy sauce and cooking wine. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes until the pork is 80% cooked and turns yellowish. |
 |
| Step 4: Add the fried tofu slices and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the chili pepper chunks, and stir-fry for a furthur 1 minute. Add some salt and white sugar. Stir-fry for 30 seconds more. |
 |
| Step 5: Finally, home-style tofu completes. Turn off the heat, remove them out of the wok and put them in a prepared fine porcelain plate. |
 |
| A plate of typical home-style tofu is ready, with a beautiful color and alluring fragrance. |
 |
Tips: Black fungus, winter bamboo shoots, carrots and garlic sprouts also work well in this dish.
In additon, you can also try
Celery and Dry Bean Curd or
Mapo Tofu if you are a tofu lover.

-
On Jun. 27, 2011, Ms. Gabriela Navarrete Lugo & Ms. Isabela Navarrete Erasmus stepped in a local family in Xian during their China tour through our company. They had a good communication with the family and learned to cook Home-style Tofu & Steamed Chinese dumplings step by step from the hostess.
Ms. Gabriela and Her Daughter with a Chinese Hostess
-
On Oct. 25, 2010, Mr. Jerry Robert Klein & Ms. Judith Lippe Klein had a cooking class during their family tour in Xian under the arrangement by TravelChinaGuide. As what in their booking, the hospitable hostess had prepared all the materials for cooking dumplings and Home-style Tofu Jerry & Judith would learn to cook on their arrival. The hostess said: 'To be a good cook in China, one should practise cutting skills first.' So the cutting work was almost done by Jerry & Judith under the instructions of the hostess that day.
Mr. & Mrs. Klein Dining in a Chinese Family
More popular vegetable dishes in China: