Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen S230 Minutes

Spicy Pork & Tofu with Jasmine Rice

Name: Spicy Pork & Tofu with Jasmine Rice
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 500g fresh tofu, firm; 150g pork mince; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1inch ginger, peeled and finely minced; 2tbsp Sichuan Toban chilli sauce (or regular chilli sauce for less heat); 1/2tbsp fermented black beans, rehydrated in some water; 1tsp chilli powder; 2tsp sugar; 1tsp dark soy sauce; 1/4tsp ground sichuan pepper powder (optional, for extra heat); 100ml water; 1tsp cornstarch mixed with; 1 tbsp of cold water; 2 sprigs of scallion, finely chopped for garnish; Steamed jasmine rice to serve; Marinade for pork:; ¼ tsp sugar; pinch of salt; pinch of white pepper; 1tsp light soy sauce; ½ tsp Chinese rice wine

Eva PauFrom the series · Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen S2

30 min totalServes 2Easy

Time30 min

Serves2

SkillEasy

ShowEva Pau's Asian Kitchen

Method

In a bowl, add the pork and all the marinade ingredients. Set aside.

Place the tofu on the chopping board and cut into roughly 1 inch cubes.

Fill a pot to two thirds full of water and when boiled, blanch your tofu for 1 minute, drain and set aside. This helps firm the tofu and also gets rid of the slight beany flavour.

In a wok, add two tablespoons of oil, when hot, add in your mince and stir fry for 2 minutes, push the mince to one side of the wok and add in another tablespoon of oil, then add in your ginger, garlic, sichuan style chilli sauce, black beans, chilli powder, sugar. soy sauce, ground sichuan pepper powder and water. Stir fry all the ingredients together for 2minutes.

Add the tofu into the sauce mix and then thicken with the cornstarch and water mix. Garnish with some scallions. Ready to serve with some steamed jasmine rice.

Cook's notes

Blanch the tofu cubes in salted boiling water for just one minute — it reduces the beany flavour, firms them up and helps them absorb the sauce better. Lower them in and lift them out gently; fresh tofu is fragile.
The fermented black beans are absolute flavour bombs — they're sold dehydrated, so rehydrate them in a little water first. A half tablespoon adds incredible depth; a little really goes a long way.
Food from Sichuan is always hot, so if you don't like heat use just a little of the chilli sauce and skip the ground Sichuan pepper — that pepper is what brings the tingling, numbing edge as well as the fire.
Both the chilli sauce and the black beans are salty and doing the heavy lifting on flavour, so hold back on any extra salt until you've tasted.
Add the cornflour slurry slowly at the end, only until the sauce reaches the consistency you want, and fold the tofu through with as little stirring as possible so the cubes stay whole.

Serve with Steamed jasmine rice is the obvious and best partner — get it on before the stir-fry starts, and a rice cooker will keep it warm until you need it. A plate of plain blanched greens like pak choi on the side gives you something cooling.

Make ahead & storage Keeps well for two to three days in the fridge and the flavour actually deepens. Reheat gently with a splash of water; the tofu softens further each time, so it's more of a stew than a stir-fry by day two.

30 MinutesAsian

Recipe by Eva Pau · From the series Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen S2 · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026