Venison and Ramp Mapo Tofu
By: Adam Berkelmans
Ahhhh! Eeeeek! Noooo! Tofu!?!
Yes. Tofu. It’s delicious, get over yourself.
“But no, it’s not,” you say, “I tried some godawful tofurkey thing one time and it was disgusting.”
Yeah, it probably was disgusting, but that’s not how tofu is supposed to be cooked. In fact, most tofu dishes of the ‘60s vegetarian hippy revolution wavered between barely edible to revolting, and that’s where America’s hatred of tofu began.
It’s time to put that behind us.
I say it’s time for meat eaters to sparingly adopt it into our diets.
We must look to the masters of cooking with tofu and see what they’re doing with it.
I say we look to the Chinese and Japanese for tofu guidance.
One thing I’ve learned from Eastern cooking is that tofu comes in myriad forms, and each one of those forms plays its own special role. Silken tofu is like a velvety poached egg white, while extra-firm tofu has a texture closer to a brick of cheddar cheese. Smoked tofu can add a special meatiness to dishes, while sweetened custardy tofu can be eaten for a dessert like a pudding. Soft tofu can be cut with a spoon, while dried tofu skins come out more like noodles. Tofu isn’t simply just tofu.
Another thing I’ve learned is that tofu is at its very best when cooked with meat. Yes, meat and tofu go very well together in dishes, complementing each other in fun and delicious ways.
Take this mapo tofu, for example. The first time I tried mapo tofu, it was a revelation. Meaty ground pork, meltingly soft cubes of silken tofu, a rich and spicy sauce full of umami and mala, a term for the hot and numbing effect of Sichuan peppercorns and chilies (Sichuan peppercorns have a numbing effect on your lips and tongue, which helps you tolerate more spice!). So. Freaking. Good. Think of this as a spicy, funky, adult version of Sloppy Joe’s.
I made this classic Chinese Sichuan dish wild by replacing the pork with venison and adding ramps (wild leeks) to the mix, creating even more incredible flavor. If ramps aren’t available to you, replace them with any wild onion, or with store-bought scallions and chopped garlic.
You’ll likely need to hit up an Asian grocery store for some of these ingredients. If that’s not possible due to your location, or if it seems overwhelming, this stuff can mostly be found online as well.
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon lard or oil
- 1/2lb ground venison
- 3 tablespoons doubanjiang chili bean paste (minced, if chunky)
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 8 whole ramps, chopped (or 16 leaves) + 1-2 for garnish
- 28oz soft or silken tofu
- 2-3 teaspoons ground Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 2 cups venison stock or water
- 2 teaspoons-1 tablespoon chili oil (depending on spice tolerance)
- 1/4 teaspoon 5-spice powder
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- White rice to serve
Preparation:
Add the lard or oil to a wok or deep skillet over medium heat.
Add the ground venison and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, for a few minutes. We’re not looking to brown the meat here, just cook it through.
Add the doubanjiang chili bean paste and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes. Add the ramps, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, 5-spice, Sichuan peppercorn, and sugar.
Cook for 1 minute, then add the water or stock. Bring to a simmer and gently add the tofu and chili oil. Break the tofu into large-ish pieces with the spoon. Gently simmer for 10 minutes, pushing rather than stirring to avoid breaking the tofu up.
Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and add to the wok, gently stirring it in. Cook until the mixture thickens into a gravy consistency, then remove from the heat.
Add more chili oil or peppercorn if desired. Serve with sliced ribbons of ramp leaves and white rice. Enjoy!
Get Cooking:
As always, Good luck this spring and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected] and you could be featured on our website or in our magazine. If this article or any of our articles have helped you become a better hunter or conservation steward, consider becoming a member of the Mule Deer Foundation or the Blacktail Deer Foundation or both. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/ or https://www.blacktaildeer.org/
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real and wild food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
