I've made this earlier but this time I had all of the ingredients in the recipe with the exception of packaged Chinese fried shallots. The dish is a take off on ma po tofu which originated in Sichuan province. It is popular all over China and recently has become a common item in Chinese restaurants in the U.S. There are many variations but one of the necessary ingredients is Sichuan peppercorns. In his book, On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee had this to say: "They are not simply pungent; 'they produce a strange tingling, buzzing, numbing sensation that is something like the effect of carbonated drinks or of a mild electrical current (touching the terminals of a nine-volt battery to the tongue). Sanshools [the bioactive component] appear to act on several different kinds of nerve endings at once, induce sensitivity to touch and cold in nerves that are ordinarily nonsensitive, and so perhaps cause a kind of general neurological confusion.'" While my reaction is not quite so intense, still, I use Sichuan peppercorns in small doses - the numbing effect is pretty strange and I'm still developing a taste for its citrus/lavender-like flavor.
I made a sauce with garlic, dried red chilis, Sichuan peppercorns, kochukaru, fermented bean paste, and soy sauce. There were a lot of chilis but because they were cooked for just a few minutes, the sauce was not overly spicy.
The pork and onions were cooked separately and then added to the sauce along with the rice cakes, broccoli, and tofu. It was all that was needed for dinner!
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