The Best Vegan Mapo Tofu

Ingredients

• 4 whole dried woodear mushrooms
• 1/4 ounce dried morel or porcini mushrooms, or a mix
• 1 piece of kombu
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 6 ounces white button mushrooms, stems trimmed, quartered
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons whole Sichuan peppercorns, divided
• 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns, one tablespoon left whole, the other toasted and ground in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle
• 2 whole dried chinese hot chilies
• 3 garlic cloves grated on a microplane grater
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated on a microplane grater
• 4 scallions, whites finely chopped, greens thinly sliced, reserved separately
• 12 chinese chives or regular chives cut into 1/2-inch segments
• 3 tablespoons minced yacai
• 2 tablespoons fermented chili broad bean paste
• 2 tablespoons roasted chili oil
• 1 1/2 pounds medium to firm silken tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Directions

1. Put the dried mushrooms and kombu, if you’re using it, in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, then pour the water over them. Press a paper towel or kitchen towel onto the top of the liquid so the mushrooms stay mostly under the surface. Leave them for 10 minutes to soften. While they soak, add the button mushrooms to a food processor and pulse until they’re in rough 1/4-inch bits, about 6 to 8 one-second pulses. Scrape the chopped button mushrooms into a large wok with the oil. Set it over high heat and cook, stirring the whole time, until the mushrooms look shrunken and deeply browned, 6 to 10 minutes. Pour everything through a fine mesh strainer positioned over a small saucepan. Move the fried mushrooms to a medium bowl, then pour the oil back into the wok.
2. Once the dried mushrooms have softened, drain them through a fine mesh strainer set over a small bowl. Throw away the kombu. Measure out 3/4 cups of the soaking liquid and discard the rest. Whisk the cornstarch, wine, and soy sauce into that liquid. Put the drained mushrooms on a cutting board. Cut out and discard the tough centers from the woodear mushrooms, then finely chop all of the mushrooms. Add them to the bowl with the fried mushrooms.
3. Add the whole Sichuan peppercorns and both chilis to the oil in the wok, then place it back over high heat. Cook just until the mixture smells aromatic and the peppercorns stop crackling. Watch closely, because they can burn quickly. Right away, pour the oil through a fine mesh strainer, discard the peppercorns and chilies, and return the oil to the wok.
4. Heat the oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites, chives, and yacai, if using. Stir-fry until the aromatics wake up, about 30 seconds. Add the chopped mushrooms and stir-fry to mix them in. Spoon in the fermented chili broad bean paste and stir until the vegetables are evenly coated. Stir the mushroom liquid mixture so the cornstarch is suspended again, then pour it into the wok. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce has reduced slightly and thickened a bit, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the tofu and gently fold it into the sauce, doing your best to keep the cubes intact.
5. Cook until the tofu is hot all the way through. Transfer everything to a serving platter, spoon the chili oil over the top, and finish with the scallion greens and ground Sichuan peppercorns. Serve right away with white rice.