Mapo Tofu with Ground Pork

Recipe Source: The Food of China and some experimentation

Recipe Result: Great taste and texture

As much as I like meat, I do enjoy some tofu every now and then, and I don't think that tofu necessarily has to be a meat-substitute. That's why I love mapo tofu; the soft tofu complements the minced pork, and the chili-bean paste makes it really spicy and hearty. Back in college, there was a Pan-Asian restaurant near campus, Lulu's Noodles, and one of their best dishes was the mapo tofu. Instead of ground pork, they used sliced barbecue pork... outstanding. I especially liked how my friend Mona, a native Mandarin speaker, translated the name to "Old Bitch Tofu," and referred to Girish as such for ordering it every time.

The cookbook I got the recipe from didn't do a very good job of giving this recipe a lot of flavor. Every time I followed the recipe exactly, the sauce was really bland and watery and the tofu lacked flavor (surprise, surprise). But I tried messing around with the amount of soy sauce used, when to add the tofu to the pan, and the amount of broth to add at the end for the final sauce. I think the recipe I've got now is definitely a step up from the book's. You can find my version after the jump.

Yangshuo Eggplant with Pork

Recipe Source: Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth on Create

Recipe Result: Pretty good, you can really taste the eggplant itself... but needs more sauce

Growing up, my mom would often make Haitian braised beef with eggplant. The beef would be cooked in a way very similar to my Haitian chicken recipe, but the eggplant was essentially mush, and that made me dislike eggplant as a kid.

Fast forward to my undergrad years. We had some food trucks on campus, a couple of them serving Thai food, and that's where I rediscovered eggplant. Granted that the chopped chicken and eggplant from the Thai trucks was probably loaded with fish sauce and MSG, I realized that eggplant doesn't have to be a beige, flavorless mush.

For a while, I tried to recreate that flavor and texture, but I just didn't understand how to work with eggplant. I'd try to saute and braise it, but it just seemed to absorb all the oil I'd put into the pan, or never really cook all the way through unless I let it over cook and become mush. But lately I've been having some good luck getting that nice texture with stir-frying really quickly over high heat. And there's something about Asian flavors that really makes the eggplant stand out.

So I stumbled upon this recipe while watching a food/travel show on PBS. I've tried it a few times, and I think I've almost nailed it. You can find my recipe after the jump. Give it a try, let me know how you like it, or let me know how you made it even better.