Sour-and-Hot Silken Tofu

This is one of my favourite Sichuanese dishes, a tender bowlful of slippy tofu dressed in a heart-warming mixture of chilli oil, mellow vinegar and other seasonings, with a crunchy garnish. Chengdu street vendors use similar seasonings to serve their own silken tofu, which they make at home and carry around, still warm from the stove, in a pair of red-and-black wooden barrels suspended from a bamboo shoulder pole. This version of the dish was taught to me by Chef Zhang Xiaozhong