Clay Toomer of WBC shares a recipe for (vegetarian) Mapo Tofu that the Wellington restaurant created with Shanghai chef Jenny Gao.
Toomer had an idea for a Sichuan-inspired menu for this year's Wellington on a Plate festival.
A bit later he and his chef met Gao for an action-packed tour of Shanghai – a couple of hours out of Gao's birthplace and spiritual home of Sichuan province.
In New Zealand, flavours are created with combinations of sour, sweet, bitter, salty and umami, but Sichuan chefs go in other directions, Clay says.
"They get into things like fragrant and funky and mouldiness and fermented and numbing."
The cornerstone of Sichuan cuisine is the Sichuan pepper, which numbs your mouth after 30 seconds. These are best ground and toasted, says Clay.
He shares with us the WBC recipe for Mapo Tofu – a Sichuan street food dish designed to be made quickly and eaten quickly.
While Mapo Tofu traditionally contains pork or beef, this is a vegetarian version.
Notes:
You can get the fermented bean paste doubanjiang from an Asian supermarket
WBC uses silken tofu, but Clay says you can also use firm or pre-fried.
Sichuan Soul Feast is WBC's special menu for Wellington on a Plate which runs from 11-27 August.
