Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 48: Is This Great Xia’s Mapo Tofu?

"Lean minced beef, fermented black beans, Pixian Douban Sauce, Erjingtiao chili flakes, Sichuan peppercorn, silken tofu, garlic sprouts..."

Lin Chen checked off each item on the recipe and purchased all the ingredients needed to make Mapo Tofu.

Just as he pushed the shopping cart into the parking lot, he saw Lucas driving his car in from the entrance from afar.

"Did you get it?"

Lucas picked up a palm-sized machine from the passenger seat and boasted, "Of course, you prepared all the paperwork in advance. I just picked it up, what’s difficult about that?"

This was the card reader he applied for online a few days ago. Every legitimate business needs one to conveniently track income for tax reporting.

Especially for his kind of mobile food truck, which is a key inspection target. Since income reporting relies heavily on honesty and many customers prefer paying cash, it’s hard to verify how much is actually earned.

For this reason, if one’s unlucky enough to be targeted and can’t provide detailed financial records, the likelihood of getting fined is one hundred percent.

Having worked in the kitchen of a regular restaurant for many years, even though he never handled such matters personally, he saw enough to understand their importance. He definitely knew how crucial this device was.

Making money isn’t easy, so you shouldn’t rely on luck.

If it weren’t for the efficiency of foreign services being so slow, he would have gotten it much earlier instead of dragging on for so many days.

"Alright, it’s still early now. Let’s first tally the accounts from the last few days."

From the food truck, he retrieved a notebook that clearly recorded every income and expenditure, detailed down to the cost of each ingredient, purchase receipts, the quantities, unit prices, and total prices of customer purchases, etc.

He couldn’t be more cautious, mainly because the store he worked at got audited and fined several tens of thousands just a few months after opening, something he firmly remembered.

"Damn, you’re not only professional, you keep such detailed accounts. You wouldn’t happen to be an accountant, would you?"

"How could that be? I’m obviously a chef."

"True, but speaking of work, I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about it. Where do you work? I’ll come try it sometime."

"Western food doesn’t have much excitement, it all tastes the same. Let’s hurry up, we need to get out and start selling. I don’t want to be heading home until midnight again, exhausted."

"Still keeping it a secret, fine, fine. But I really don’t have much interest in Western food."

Besides the card reader, Lucas also purchased a professional catering backend system following his advice.

The two of them installed the system in the food truck, entered the financial data, connected the card reader, and only set off for the vending location after confirming everything was working.

Mapo Tofu has a strong flavor, best paired with rice, so Lin Chen intentionally bought a large bag of Northeastern autumn harvest rice called Akita Komachi.

This rice was chosen by him after years of personal experience, having the best texture, similar to the sushi rice and fragrant rice next door. When cooked, each grain is distinct and chewy, but not too hard.

Whether for stir-fry, fried rice, or rice with toppings, it’s an excellent choice.

If they had a wooden bucket, the steamed rice would be more aromatic and fluffy, but since the supermarket doesn’t sell them, they had to settle for using a large-capacity electric cooker.

Rinse three times, the water level higher than the rice surface by a finger’s width, then press the cook button.

They had been busy for so long, they hadn’t even had lunch yet. Though they had a few small bowls of noodles to hold them over this morning, they were about starving by now.

Rinse the fermented black beans clean with water, chop them finely and set aside.

Lucas helped wash the garlic sprouts nearby, while Lin Chen heated an empty pan, preparing to roast Sichuan peppercorns.

The Sichuan peppercorns bought from the supermarket are usually raw; the finished pepper powder lacks fragrance. To make a dish with a strong numbing flavor delicious, the pepper powder is key.

Heat the pan until slightly hot to the touch, then turn to a low heat, add the Sichuan peppercorns and stir continuously to avoid burning.

Under high heat, the peppercorns gradually emit a pungent aroma, their color turning darker.

While stirring, occasionally pinch a piece with your fingers; if it easily crumbles into powder, it’s time to turn off the heat.

While still hot, crush the roasted peppercorns, using any bowl and a rolling pin to pound them. This handmade stir-fried pepper powder smells extremely fragrant, making Lucas sneeze uncontrollably while washing the vegetables.

Despite the pungency, he couldn’t help but start salivating madly.

"That’s the taste, haha, Sichuan pepper! It’s been too long~"

Not just him, even Lin Chen felt saliva starting to flow naturally.

Far away in a foreign land, the most longing thing for a traveler is nothing more than authentic hometown cuisine.

Without hesitation, he immediately began heating water in the pan.

Cut the tofu into cubes around two centimeters, add a pinch of sea salt to boiling water, and blanch for three to five minutes to remove the bean smell.

During this time, heat another pan, pour in a generous amount of canola oil, and heat to fifty percent hot, add the minced beef and quickly stir-fry.

This process requires high heat to quickly evaporate the water in the beef, preserving the meat’s flavor while frying the beef bits crispy.

Once the beef turns a dark brown, resembling oil dregs, add the minced fermented black beans and Pixian Douban Sauce and stir-fry until aromatic and red oil starts appearing, then add some Erjingtiao chili flakes and stir a few times, pour in water just enough to submerge the tofu.

Here you can season—light soy sauce for flavor, sugar for freshness, and if you have oyster sauce, a little bit can be added, and finally chicken essence or MSG.

No need to add salt throughout the process, as fermented black beans, Douban Sauce, soy sauce, or the saltwater blanched tofu itself brings saltiness already. Adding more salt would make it too salty and bitter.

Bring it to a boil, let the stewing ingredients slowly permeate the tofu, avoiding stirring to prevent crumbling.

Lin Chen gently shakes the pan handle, using skilled force to rotate the tofu in the sauce, evenly covering them without burning the bottom.

Simmer for about two or three minutes, drizzle a bit of prepared starch water to thicken.

Thicken three times separately, not adding too much at once, to perfect the sauce rather than making it a paste.

If you feel the sauce is too thick during the process, you can add a bit of water to adjust the ratio.

After thickening three times, gently push from the inside out with the spatula, allowing the starch water to blend with the base sauce fully, creating a saucy state, immediately turn off the heat, sprinkle some diamond-shaped garlic sprout leaves to use the residual heat to instantly release aroma.

Dish out and plate.

But that’s not the finish, finally sprinkle a layer of pepper powder atop the Mapo Tofu, to infuse the soul.

"Hey, the pepper powder is added last? I thought it went in during stewing."

It’s Lucas’s first time witnessing the live-making of Mapo Tofu, wiping his mouth corner of saliva, he clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Yes, it must be added last so the pepper powder coats the tofu surface, and your first bite gives the numbing pepper taste. That’s the soul of authentic Mapo Tofu."