Rice tofu with chili sauce

Toss the rice with the calcium hydroxide and a bit of water and soak three hours, to break down the grain and give the rice tofu a bite.

The rice turns yellow and the grains break apart in the fingers. Wash the alkaline off thoroughly, about ten times, until the water runs completely clear, then drain. Any lime left behind gives a soapy taste.

Blend the drained rice with 250 ml of water on high for three minutes, scraping the sides once or twice.

Add another 500 ml of water to set the final water to rice ratio, and mix well.

Pour the batter into a saucepan over high heat and stir nonstop. Once it starts to thicken, at about 50 degrees centigrade, drop to medium-low.

Keep stirring incessantly about fifteen minutes until the starch fully gelatinizes and the batter no longer tastes mealy.

Pour into a bowl and refrigerate at least four hours or overnight.

Loosen with a touch of water down the side of the bowl, turn out and slice into about one inch sheets, then halve the sheets lengthwise and again the other way, and stack.

Shortcut chili oil: heat two tablespoons of oil in a saucepan until smoking, shut off the heat, let it fall to about 180 celsius and stir in two tablespoons of Laoganma hot chili. Pour out.

Mix in the soy sauce, dark Chinese vinegar, salt, sugar, MSG, Sichuan peppercorn powder and minced garlic.

Spoon the liquid around the rice tofu, smother it with the solids and sprinkle over the chopped cilantro and scallion.

Doneness test for starch: mix a teaspoon of cornstarch into about two tablespoons of lukewarm 50c water, taste it and remember the pasty milky texture; then mix another teaspoon into about three to four tablespoons of boiling water, which turns transparent and chewy. Cooked starch tastes like the second.