34 replies to this topic

[_john]

there is a brand of huajiao preserved in oil that is imported in to the US. Lasts forever and is the most potent.

If you have a Japanese super market near you you can probably find the premade Japanese version of mapo dofu in retort packs.

[Hassouni]

Something that really makes Ma Po more restaurant-like is to use restaurant quantities of oil. I often use less at home, but using more oil definitely improves the dish. I have a round-bottomed wok and I'd say when I make it with less oil, the puddle of oil at the center of the wok has a diameter of about 2.5 inches, whereas the higher amount would have about double that. You can also use a mix of regular oil and chile oil, and add some huajiao oil at the end if super fresh huajiao is not available to you.

[Blether]

... Whole, they last for about a year or two. Toasted and then ground, 3 - 6 months.

Or, (toast &) grind, wet through with vinegar, fry in ample oil till all water driven off, and have your very own 'keeps forever' paste.

[GlorifiedRice]

Cookingwithdogs Mabo is good

[Will]

I think properly, the white and green parts of garlic shoots (green garlic) are used in mapo doufu, rather than leek or green onion. Baby leeks could be used, but they are tougher, so they don't have quite the same texture, even when cooked a bit longer.

You can see a picture on the right side here at this link, as well as some interesting information in the comments.
http://www.fuchsiadu...joys-of-garlic/

Salient points:
1) While the Sichuanese call these 'suànmiáo' (蒜苗), many other areas refer to them as qīng suàn (青蒜). When I've found them at a local market, the Chinese says 蒜苗 (which they also seem to use for garlic scapes, aka suàn tái (蒜薹), but the English description says 'Taiwan Leek'.
2) If it's possible to find them, it will probably be somewhat seasonal -- I would say the things you want are actually harder to find in the US than garlic scapes. I'm not sure if it's a different species of garlic (there are certainly many), or just different stages in the life cycle.

If your garlic hasn't been treated to prevent / slow down sprouting, you can sprout it (especially garlic that's already starting to sprout) at home in some water, but they'll probably be much smaller.