Yes, you can use ground chicken or ground beef.

Hi Andrew, it's great to hear that you've enjoyed this so much, thanks for taking the time to let me know! I don't know if you saw it but I did a plant-based mayo tofu recipe a few months ago https://norecipes.com/vegan-mapo-tofu/

Just wanted to jump in and let you know that this is one of our FAVORITE recipes - have made it many times over the years and it never disappoints. It was also my first introduction to doubanjiang and douchi, and the first time I used sichuan peppercorns at home.

You may also be interested to know that we typically make it vegetarian by substituting soy crumbles for the pork (or better, impossible ground, if you can get it) and whatever broth you want for the chicken broth - we use Edward and Sons Not Chick'n.

As an early entry for me to Sichuan food, this recipe has had a big influence on my cooking. Thank you for posting it!!

Hi Kathy, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! Discovering new ingredients is one of my favorite things about cooking so I'm glad I was able to introduce you to Doubanjiang😃

This recipe is so delicious! My second time making it. The first time I had to substitute the doubanjiang with gochujang, since I hadn't even heard of the fermented bean paste. It was delicious enough for me to go and hunt down doubanjiang. It makes a real difference. That fermented bean flavor is amazing! Blanching the tofu was also a revelation.

Hi Eileen, I'm based in Japan, so I'm afraid that wouldn't be of much help as a lot of the stuff is repackaged and relabeled for the Japanese market. For Sichuan peppercorns I look for ones that have a nice red color (don't get ones that are brown), and are relatively clean(sometimes they're covered with dust and have twigs and things mixed in). For Doubanjiang, I like to get one from Pixian in Sichuan. I don't really have any tips for Douchi, but I have noticed that some brands are much saltier than others, so you may need to make some adjustments on the fly.