Extra Tasty Mapo Doufu

• 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 3 tablespoons chili bean sauce
• 4 teaspoons Chinese black bean and garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon sliced dried Szechuan red chiles, or to taste
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 (14 ounce) container firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 pinches white sugar, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

1. Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.
2. Spread Szechuan peppercorns over a baking sheet.
3. Bake peppercorns under the preheated broiler until toasted, about 1 minute. Let cool; transfer to a mortar and pestle and crush into medium grinds.
4. Heat a wok or saucepan over high heat. Add oil; cook ground pork until mostly browned and crumbly, about 1 minute. Move pork to 1 side of the pan with a spatula. Reduce heat to medium. Add chili bean paste; cook and stir until oil turns red, about 30 seconds. Stir pork into oil.
5. Mix black bean sauce and dried chiles into the pork mixture; cook until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in chicken stock. Add tofu gently; shake pan back and forth until tofu is coated in sauce but not broken, about 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and sugar. Reduce heat to low; let simmer, about 5 minutes.
6. Mix cornstarch in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons cold water. Increase heat to medium. Add to the tofu mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time, until sauce is almost as thick as ketchup and clings to the tofu, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in the green onions. Sprinkle toasted peppercorns on top.

szechuan peppercorns, peanut oil, ground pork, chili bean sauce, chinese black bean, red chiles, chicken stock, firm tofu, soy sauce, white sugar, cornstarch, green onions

Taken from www.allrecipes.com/recipe/260113/extra-tasty-mapo-doufu/ (may not work)