This braised tofu meatball dish, has a little fancy flavor, but it’s surprisingly simple.

First, when making meatballs, we added half of the crushed tofu to make them less greasy, much softer, and easier to absorb the flavor of braised sauce;

At the same time, this time we did not use simple soy sauce for braising, but instead used a richer Sichuan Doubanjiang sauce. As a savory and spicy seasoning with a fermented flavor, Doubanjiang sauce is our favorite Chinese ‘miso’.

Sichuan Doubanjiang contains no unnecessary additives, just broad beans, chili peppers, salt, and a bit of wheat flour to help fermentation, which gives it a deep rich fermented aroma.

🥢 Simple Steps

1. Start by heating a cast iron wok over high heat. Add a small spoonful of oil and minced garlic, let it sizzle until fragrant.
2. Add a small scoop of Doubanjiang, and stir quickly to form a thick sauce.
3. Add tofu meatballs and toss until they’re evenly coated with the sauce.
4. Pour in a bit of water — not too much to cover the meatballs. Lower the heat to simmer.
5. As the water evaporates, the sauce will thicken. Take out the meatballs to plate.
6. Now add some sliced bamboo shoots, bell peppers, and chopped scallions to the remaining sauce. Stir gently over low heat until the aroma of those vegetables comes through—then turn off the heat and pour the veggies and sauce right over the meatballs.

🥢 How to make tofu meatballs at home

• Crush tofu, grind pork into minced meat, beat eggs into egg mixture, chop cilantro, chop ginger, a small amount of salt and pepper;（The ratio of tofu to minced meat is 1:1, and one piece of tofu paired with one egg ）
• Stir them all together into puree
• Scoop with a small spoon to shape the meatball, deep-fry
• Fried tofu meatballs can be frozen in the refrigerator for use at any time.