General Tao's Tofu
1 (12 ounce) box firm tofu, in 1" cubes (frozen and thawed, if desired)
1 egg equivalent (e.g., EnerG Egg Replacer), prepared
3 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons water, divided
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided
vegetable oil for frying + 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
3 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2/3 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon sherry, optional
red pepper, to taste
steamed broccoli, to serve
1. Mix the egg replacer as specified on the box and add an additional 3 tablespoons water. Dip tofu in egg replacer mixture and coat completely. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cornstarch over tofu and coat completely. Watch out that the cornstarch doesn't clump up at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Heat oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden. Drain oil. Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in pan on medium heat. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic; cook for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic.
3. Add vegetable stock, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sherry, and red pepper.
4. Mix 2 tablespoons water with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well. Add fried tofu and coat evenly.
Serve immediately with steamed broccoli over your choice of rice.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Wow, I hate it whenever I am the one voice of dissent, but here goes. This recipe was ok. Definitely not bad, maybe I was just expecting too much because of the raving reviews. I made it for a vegan potluck, and I wasn't crazy about it. The breading/frying part went ok (I usually mess that stuff up) although the cornstarch settled at the bottom of the pan, burned, and set of my smoke alarm, LOL! I doubled the sauce and decreased the sugar as recommended, but I thought it could be sweeter. The sauce was not bad, but definitely nothing to go crazy over. Needs some extra oomph. Used mixed vegetables and served it over rice noodles. I might make it again, but considering how labor-intensive it is, I'm not sure it would be worth the effort. I gave it 3 stars (which my boyfriend agreed to). Oh well!
Given all the great reviews, I expected this dish to rock my socks off. But I suppose all the "it tastes just like Chinese takeouts" comments should have been clues to my end product.
It did taste like your standard corner Chinese restaurant food. That's the problem. The dish was very mediocre like your typical American pseudo-Chinese fare. I substituted ginger powder for ginger and added shiitake mushrooms instead of broccoli to it. However, I seriously doubt that it would taste much better if I stuck with the original recipe.
Maybe I just expected more because as a Southern Californian I have access to more authentic vegetarian Chinese restaurants (like Happy Family) and I ate at tons of great vegetarian restaurants next to Buddhist temples while I was in Hong Kong.
Anyhow, the dish was edible. I gave this a three star.
This was delicious. I doubled the sauce, as suggested by previous reviewers. The only thing I would change is cutting down on the sugar because the sauce was too sweet.
This recipe is easy and amazing. I added a ton of veggies and doubled the sauce. I would recommend it to any meat eater with gusto.
So, uh.. This is basically the best recipe in the world.
I added broccoli and red and yellow bell pepper, doubled the sauce, and served it over basmatti rice.
Thank you so much!
oh, you- v_gan- i love your big poofy hair. its so cute. and uh, i loved this recipe too. hahaha. XD
this is amazing. it was the first time I ever cooked with Tofu and now I can't wait to try tofu everything! It did take me quite a bit longer to prepare than the recipe said, and I made extra sauce, but seriously. TOTALLY DELICIOUS! My boyfriend's friends make fun of me for being a vegetarian, but even they were impressed!
INCREDIBLE!!! :P
I took the suggestion of one of the previous posters and used one hand for dipping in the ER and the other hand for dipping in the cornstarch...There was no floater in the oil at all..The first batch i put a small layer of tofu and ended up needing to turn it too often. The second batch i did a mini deep fry and this worked much better (if you don't mind a little extra fat.)
The sauce is wonderful..We trippled the recipe and the sauce..we're serving it with kale and broccoli...We will definitely make this many many many more times..
thank you for the recipe!!!
This is one of my & my boyfriend's favorite tofu dishes. As an occasional meat-eater, he is so impressed by this recipe that he often requests it rather than going out for the real (chicken) thing. I've used the breaded tofu in many different recipes and it is always fantastic. Thank you! ;D
We love this recipe as is (minus the sherry) - it's great! My whole family enjoys this and we've made it many times.
However, I have to be careful of fried foods now; I think I'll try someone's suggestion and bake it in the oven next time and reduce/substitute the sugar and reduce the salt. I'd like to see how that turns out.
So good! First time I've ever made tofu taste anything remotely like a chinese restaurant! I ended up taking a few shortcuts due to what I had available. I used ground ginger powder instead of minced ginger. I also used lemon juice instead of vinegar. Skipped the green onions. Being health conscious I also did not add the 3 tablespoons of oil to begin sauteing the garlic etc, but instead just used some cooking spray and then added a little of the broth. Even with these changes it still came out spectacular!
Pages