It is actually very simple to stir-fry bean paste into red oil. When the oil is 50% hot, add the bean paste and make circles with the spatula. In fact, you don’t need to fry red oil deliberately to make doubanjiang. A bottle of doubanjiang already contains red oil.

In Sichuan cuisine, 99% of braised dishes will use bean paste, and of course there are two dishes: twice-cooked pork and Mapo tofu. For example, braised tofu:

Buy the tofu, cut it into cubes, and blanch it.

Put oil in the pot, stir-fry the bean paste until fragrant, then add the minced ginger and garlic.

Add water to boil, add salt to taste, and pour in tofu.

Simmer over medium heat until the tofu is fragrant, add MSG and sprinkle with chopped green onion.

If there is too much soup at this time, you can use high heat to reduce the juice before adding MSG.