Recently it was just C and me for dinner, so I thought I’d give the super simple ma po tofu another try.

(unrelated photo)

Previously I had resolved to buy some oyster sauce and fermented black bean to make some more “authentic” ma po tofu, but that hasn’t happened yet. So I just did things a little differently this time. I used frozen shiitake mushrooms instead of meat (because we didn’t have any in the house), and instead of just soy sauce, I used my super combo of equal parts soy sauce and toasted sesame oil and a dash of rice vinegar (I use this same mixture in fried rice and stir fry), and added sriracha.

It was really good! I think the mushrooms really give it the extra something that was lacking before. In the future I’ll be trying it with meat, and maybe peas…