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Sichuan Stir Fry

It started with using up whatever I had in the pantry, but it turned out so good, I'm going to go and seek out the ingredients the next time. Here's what I did:

Prep: Drain organic firm tofu on paper towels. Grind about 4-5 dried shitake mushrooms into a fine powder, and put it in a bowl, and add some water. Set aside. Grind about 4-5 garlic cloves and one inch of ginger. Cut into big chunks - 1 Onion, half a red pepper, slice a carrot and a zucchini. Cut about 10-15 mushrooms into quarters. Dice the spring onion. All the veggies and Tofu were organic, which did help, I think. Open a can on straw mushroom and a small one of sliced bamboo shoots. In a morter and pestle, crush a few sichuan peppers. Open a jar of Lee Kum Kee brand Guizhou black bean chilli sauce (which I think came from HMart).

In a wok, heat some oil, add the tofu and let it brown from a few different sides. Take it out an drain on a paper towel.Add a bit more oil, add crushed ginger-garlic, spring onion, onion pieces, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and saute for a bit. Add a pinch of kosher salt. Now add the straw mushrooms and bamboo shoots, the dried mushroom paste, about half a jar of black bean chilli sauce, sichuan peppers, a dash of soy sauce. Add a bit of water, and then some cornstarch mixed with water. Add a pinch of sugar (literally, just a pinch). Let everything simmer for a minute or two. Add the spring greens, and serve over rice.

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