Hunan Pork and Tofu is a classic dish served at many Hunan restaurants throughout China and the US. This recipe is as easy as it is tasty!
About Hunan Cuisine
Hunan-style food, like Sichuan food, features chilis and spice as a core flavor, and has really taken off in popularity in recent years as more Chinese immigrants and visitors have made their way into all parts of America.
Hunan-style food incorporates fermented black beans in many dishes, including Hunan Steamed Fish with Salted Chilies, (an under-appreciated dish on our blog, I must say).
On the topic of fermented black beans, if you’re looking to dip a toe in the water rather than steam up a whole fish, one of our favorite condiments is Lao Gan Ma or “Lady Sauce” as Sarah and Kaitlin dubbed it long ago, as you can see here in our very first post. Our nickname may be questionable, but the combination of fermented black beans and hot chili sauce infused in oil is uniquely delicious and something you must try!
One other note about Hunan Pork or most Hunan dishes you’ll likely encounter is the amount of oil used in each dish. Hunan style, like Sichuan-style Chinese cooking, incorporates significant amounts of oil. It’s not surprising that dishes may contain up to ½ cup of oil!
This Hunan Pork and Tofu recipe also uses a liberal amount of oil (6 tablespoons), but you’ll notice that it’s lacking the strong/visible greasiness that you might see in Chinese restaurants. As always, we encourage our readers to experiment, so if you enjoy that restaurant-style flavor and consistency, increase the oil from 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup in the step where you fry the chili bean paste!
So what are you waiting for?
Recipe Instructions
Start by thinly slicing your pork. Pork shoulder or pork butt both work for this recipe. You could also use pork loin/chops.
In a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water to the pork slices and massage until the pork absorbs all of the water.
Next, add the oil and cornstarch, mix thoroughly until the pork is coated, and set aside.
Heat your wok over high heat, and spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the wok to evenly coat the surface. Add the firm tofu slices to the wok in one layer, and let them sear.
Don’t move them for a least 1 minute! Tilt your wok so the oil reaches the tofu on all sides. Add more oil if needed.
After another 1 to 2 minutes, the tofu should be browned, and it should not stick to the wok. You may have use a metal spatula to loosen the pieces slightly. Turn down the heat, and carefully flip all of the tofu slices.
After the tofu is golden brown on both sides, transfer to a plate. They should be much easier to handle now.
Over high heat, add another 2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. When the wok just starts to smoke a bit, immediately add the pork. Spread the pork around the wok using your metal spatula, and let the meat sear for 20 seconds on one side.
Stir fry for another 15 seconds, and scoop out the meat into your marinade bowl. It should be about 80% cooked.
Using the same wok, turn the heat to low, and immediately add 2 tablespoons oil, the minced ginger, the spicy “doubanjiang” bean sauce, and the white parts of the scallions.
Stir this mixture into the oil and let it fry at low heat for 15 seconds to infuse the oil and bring out a rich red color.
Next, add the garlic, fermented black beans, red bell peppers, and the rest of the scallions. Turn the heat to high, and give everything a good stir-frying for 45 seconds. The red pepper will sear and add more natural red color to this dish!
Add the pork and juices from your marinade bowl and the tofu back to the wok. Next, spread 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok, add the sugar, and continue to stir-fry for 15 seconds. Be gentle so you don’t break up the tofu.
After another 15 seconds of stir-frying, spread the hot chicken stock or water around the perimeter of the wok to deglaze it. Continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds, being sure to spread the liquid to the sides of the wok to further deglaze it. (Notice we did not add salt or soy sauce, since the combination of the spicy bean paste and the fermented soybeans is quite salty.)
At this point, you can continue to stir-fry the dish until most of the liquid is reduced, or add the water and cornstarch to thicken any standing liquid. Plate this Hunan Pork and Tofu and enjoy with rice!
Hunan Pork and Tofu Spicy Stir Fry, by thewoksoflife.com
Ingredients
For the pork and marinade:
- 10 ounces pork (280g, sliced ⅛-inch thick)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
For the rest of the dish:
- 6 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (divided)
- 1 pound firm tofu (450g, drained and cut into 2-inch squares, ½-inch thick)
- 1 teaspoon ginger (minced)
- 2 tablespoons spicy bean sauce (doubanjiang)
- 3 scallions (cut on an angle into 2-inch pieces)
- 2 teaspoons fresh garlic (minced)
- 3 tablespoons fermented black beans
- 1 red bell pepper (cut into 1x2-inch pieces, about 1½ cups)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- ⅓ cup hot water or chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
- In a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water to the pork slices and massage until the pork absorbs all of the water. Next, add the oil and cornstarch, mix thoroughly until the pork is coated, and set aside.
- Heat your wok over high heat, and spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the wok to evenly coat the surface. Add the tofu slices to the wok in one layer, and let them sear. Don’t move them for a least 1 minute! Tilt your wok so the oil reaches the tofu on all sides. Add more oil if needed.
- After another 1 to 2 minutes, the tofu should be browned, and it should not stick to the wok. You may have use a metal spatula to loosen the pieces slightly. Turn down the heat, and carefully flip all of the tofu slices. After the tofu is golden brown on both sides, transfer to a plate. They should be much easier to handle now.
- Over high heat, add another 2 tablespoons of oil to your wok. When the wok just starts to smoke a bit, immediately add the pork. Spread the pork around the wok using your metal spatula, and let the meat sear for 20 seconds on one side. Stir fry for another 15 seconds, and scoop out the meat into your marinade bowl. It should be about 80% cooked.
- Using the same wok, turn the heat to low, and immediately add 2 tablespoons oil, the minced ginger, the spicy chili bean paste (dou ban jiang), and the white parts of the scallions. Stir this mixture into the oil and let it fry at low heat for 15 seconds to infuse the oil and bring out a rich red color.
- Next, add the garlic, black beans, red bell peppers, and the rest of the scallions. Turn the heat to high, and give everything a good stir-frying for 45 seconds. The red pepper will sear and add more natural red color to this dish!
- Add the pork and juices from your marinade bowl and the tofu back to the wok. Next, spread 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok, add the sugar, and continue to stir-fry for 15 seconds. Be gentle so you don’t break up the tofu.
- After another 15 seconds of stir-frying, spread the hot chicken stock or water around the perimeter of the wok to deglaze it. Continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds, being sure to spread the liquid to the sides of the wok to further deglaze it. (Notice we did not add salt or soy sauce, since the combination of the spicy bean paste and the fermented soybeans is quite salty.)
- At this point, you can continue to stir-fry the dish until most of the liquid is reduced, or add the water and cornstarch to thicken any standing liquid. Plate this Hunan Pork and Tofu and enjoy with rice!
nutrition facts
Didn’t have tofu on hand so I used an equal amount of pork instead. Also subbed in a tablespoon of chili crisp (lao gan ma) for one of the 3 tablespoons of black bean. Yet another great recipe.
High five!!!
This recipe turned out really well! I used ground pork instead of sliced, and did a little extra doubanjiang since I can’t get enough of the stuff. The doubanjiang and douchi combo is umami heaven, and it looked very presentable while coming together very quickly. Definitely putting this recipe in rotation.
Hi Beau, nicely done!
I came to the comments to see if anyone had used ground pork. Perfect. Question: Did you use the water, oil, and cornstarch?
Hi Aaron, please do add water, oil and cornstarch if you use ground pork :-)
Hello!
I am making this dish today but would like to substitute eggplant and mushrooms for the tofu. Do you think that would work?
Sure, you will get the flavor of this dish without the tofu. You should pan-fry the eggplant first like we pan-fried the tofu. It will do wonders for the dish. :-)
This recipe sounds great but what can I use in place of tofu? Can’t stand the stuff.
Hi Sherry, you can try mixed vegetables…like this recipe. https://thewoksoflife.com/2013/06/everyday-vegetable-stir-fry/
Made this last night and it was REALLY good. I loved the funkiness of the black beans and enjoyed how much they added to the dish. Used pork steaks sliced thin–that little bit of extra fat was great. The sweetness of the red peppers balanced nicely with the spicy, saltiness of the chili bean sauce. Easy to throw together…thanks for a great recipe and a great website.
Thank you very much for your approval, Andrea!
Just put away the leftovers. This dish was really good! I will make again, Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Glenn, You’re welcome and keep up the great cooking!
I’ve made this dish several times now and it’s one of my favorites, and my favorite tofu dish ever! Thanks!
Hi Michele, thank you so much for your high praise.