Ma Po Tofu 麻婆豆腐

Lyanne's almost 8 weeks.. by this Wednesday she'll be. She's following her sister's footsteps by sucking on her thumb! Haih! Why don't they ever take on the pacifier instead?? I'd prefer them to be on the pacifier rather than the thumb, and the right thumb to be exact. Lyanne can smile now, when we talk to her, she'll react by smiling. Meanwhile Lydia is trying to carry her.. she can't of course! When we hold Lyanne in our arms, she'll try to put her arms under her, as if she's carrying her. It's cute.

Ma Po Tofu. After reading on the internet, I found that the origin of this dish came from a granny who is a leper. Hence the name, Leper Granny Tofu.

This is my version. A little too dark, due to my aged bean paste.. I haven’t been using the bean paste for quite some time, and once the bottle’s opened, it starts to age and darken. And it’s not that easy to find hot bean paste in Malaysia, so I combine chili paste and bean paste to make up for it.
Not fiery hot, sorry to disappoint chili fans.

250 soft tofu, cubed
½ cup minced pork /chicken
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
¾ Tbsp fine bean paste (tau cheong)
1 tsp ground chili paste (cili giling, in Malay)
2 Tbsp chili sauce ( Maggi, Kimball or Heinz type)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 cup water mixed with 1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp oil

1. Heat wok on medium and put in oil. Saute chopped garlic and shallot until fragrant.
2. Add in bean paste and chili paste, stir until fragrant.
3. Put in minced pork. Stir until pork is cooked.
4. Put in cornstarch mixture, sesame oil, chili sauce, salt and sugar to taste.
5. When gravy has thickened, put in cubed tofu and simmer for another half minute.
6. Dish up and serve. Sprinkle on some chopped green onions for decoration.