Tofu rice! Douhuafan is practically a lifestyle in south Sichuan, but it's one of those things that's a bit hard to translate to a recipe, as usually it's prepared in restaurants.

0:00 - How to Translate a Recipe?
0:27 - The Culture of Douhua Rice in Sichuan
1:13 - Making an 'able-to-lunch' Tofu Rice
1:36 - Workday Preparation Strategy
3:32 - Toasted Chili Dip with Celery
7:03 - Crispy Chili Bean Paste Dip with Lotus Root
10:45 - Chili Black Bean Dip with Broccoli
12:45 - Other Douhua styles & How to Eat

(Bumping into the description box character limit, notes relating to product sourcing will be in the pinned comment below)

PREPARATION OF THE TOFU

* One block of soft - or medium - tofu (嫩豆腐), ~300g
* Salt, 1 tsp
* Hot, boiled water
* (Optional) bean sprouts
* Enough rice to fill you up

Option #1: Twenty minutes before lunch, dissolve the salt in with the hot boiled water and fill it up over your tofu. Let it soak for twenty minutes, then dip out the water, and refill with hot, boiled water (optionally placing the tofu on a bed of sprouts first).

Option #2: There's not much of an upper limit to the salt water soak. You could also do the salt water soak in the morning, and pack the tofu together with the brine. Dip out the water when you're ready to eat it, and refill with hot, boiled water (optionally placing the tofu on a bed of sprouts first).

DIP/VEGETABLE #1: TOASTED CHILI OIL (PLUS CELERY)

Dip:

* Toasted chili oil (see below) -or- Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp, 1 tbsp; Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tbsp; salt, 1/8 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/4 tsp; Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒面), 1/4 tsp; toasted sesame seeds (熟芝麻), 1/4 tsp; chopped cilantro, ~1 tbsp

Mix together right before you're ready to eat.

Vegetable:

* Cooked celery, ~200g
* Seasoning: Toasted chili oil (see below) -or- Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp, 1 tbsp; Soy sauce (生抽), 1/2 tbsp; Dark Chinese Vinegar (陈醋/香醋) -or- rice vinegar -or- balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp; salt, 1/8 tsp; sugar, 1/2 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/4 tsp; toasted sesame oil (麻油), ~1/4 tsp

To prep the celery, first peel the ribs. Slice the ribs in half, then chop into ~1.5 inch pieces. Blanch for ~30 seconds, then rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process.

Add all the seasoning to a mason jar and nestle ~200g worth of the celery in. Shake when you're ready to eat.

Toasted chili oil:

* Dried chilis, 50g (we used Sichuan erjingtiao, 二荆条)
* Oil, 150g (or 3/4 of a cup). We used Caiziyou (Chinese rapeseed oil), but you can also use Indian mustard seed oil or peanut oil
* Aromatics for the oil: Ginger, ~1 inch, smashed; Onion (洋葱), ~1/4 of an onion, sliced
* Spices for the oil (optional but recommended): Cinnamon (桂皮), ½ stick; Star Anise (八角), 1; Fennel Seed (小茴香), ¼ tsp

(Refer to 3:37 in the video for the process)

DIP/VEGETABLE #2: CRISPY CHILI BEAN PASTE (PLUS LOTUS ROOT)

Dip:

* Crispy chili bean paste (see below), 1.5 tbsp; Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tbsp; Sugar, 1/4 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; Garlic, 1 clove, minced; Toasted - or roasted - peanuts, 6, crushed; Chopped scallion, ~1/2 tbsp

Vegetable:

* Cooked lotus root, ~200g
* Seasoning: Crispy chili bean paste (see below), 1/2 tbsp; Soy sauce (生抽), 1/2 tbsp; Sugar, 1/2 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; White pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp; Toasted sesame oil, 1/4 tsp; Chopped scallion, ~1 tbsp

Peel the lotus root and slice into ~1cm sticks. Rinse thoroughly, and soak the lotus root in water until you're ready to blanch, much like you were prepping potato.

Blanch the lotus root until cooked, ~3 minutes. Strain, rinse. Add the seasoning to your mason jar, and nestle the lotus root on top.

Crispy Chili Bean Paste:

* Red oil Chili bean paste, 6 tbsp
* Oil, 150g (or 3/4 of a cup). We used Caiziyou (Chinese rapeseed oil), but you can also use Indian mustard seed oil or peanut oil
* Aromatics for the oil: Ginger, ~1 inch, smashed; Onion (洋葱), ~1/4 of an onion, sliced; Scallion, white part only, 2; Cilantro, 2 sprigs; celery, 2 ribs
* Spices for the oil (optional but recommended): Cinnamon (桂皮), ½ stick; Star Anise (八角), 1; Fennel Seed (小茴香), ¼ tsp

(Please refer to 7:57 in the video for the Crispy Chili Bean paste process)

DIP/VEGETABLE #3: CHILI BLACK BEAN

Dip:

* Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil with Black Bean, 1 tbsp; Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp; salt, 1/4 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒面), 1/2 tsp; Toasted chili flakes -or- Thai Prik Bon, 1/2 tbsp -or- mix of 1 tsp chili flakes & 1/2 tsp smoked paprika; Chopped scallion, ~1/2 tbsp

Vegetable:

* Cooked broccoli, 200g
* Seasoning: Lao Gan Ma Chili Oil with Black Bean, 1 tbsp; Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp; salt, 1/4 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; Sichuan Peppercorn Powder (花椒面), 1/2 tsp

Blanch the broccoli for 1 minute, and combine in the same manner as above.

_______________

Footage of the Guizhou douhua restaurant is here, nice channel and great restaurant:
https://youtu.be/G43k-fFqJ4U

Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg