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?
:D <That's my "This was so good I'm twitching" face! A dash of red pepper flakes was perfect for me. I served all of it over warm brown rice, snow peas, and broccoli...Mmmmmm!
I usually cut my tofu in triangles rather than cubes (although I didn't this time). It fries/cooks a lot more quickly and evenly.
This recipe is great! I used it as a pizza topping and it was absolutely fantastic. I doubled the sauce. when the tofu was done frying, i poured the sauce over it, then strained out the excess, which i used as the pizza sauce. I didn't steam the brocolli. Instead i just threw it on as a topping as well.
the only thing i can comment on is to definitely use the recipes sauce instead of buying it because it is seriously delicious
I haven't read all of the comments on this, seeing as how there are soo many, but I might go back to it if my questions go unanswered.
First, is there something I can use besides an "egg replacement?" I never have any luck finding products like Ener-G, and don't know what else I'd use.
Also, how worthy is this sauce compared to just store-bought General Tso's sauce? What I was really looking for was a recipe that gave me the crunchy texture of take-out tofu but homemade, but if this sauce is worth it I might just put the time and effort into making it too.
And finally (for now), what kind of texture would baking the tofu create? I don't think I've ever had baked tofu, so any sort of directions on how to go about doing this would be awesome ;)b
Thanks! I'll definitely be looking through other posts to see what additions were made (like adding mushrooms and other veggies I assume :)>>>)
I knew when this smelled like tofu I had once had at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that I was finally on the right path with this recipe. I absolutely hated it before, the sauce was good but I don't like the taste of tofu, and this still tasted like tofu. Yuck! I marinated it in soy sauce, hoisin sauce and a couple ground up dried habanero peppers for about 45 minutes. Even without the sauce, it is amazing, and tastes nothing like tofu. Even my meat-eater hubby loves it.
I breaded mine in egg substitute and unbleached all purpose flour with a little salt added in. There is no reason for all that cornstarch and I don't even keep it in my kitchen since flour serves the same purpose. I also sprinkled some more flour onto the cooking tofu to help it look a little more like chicken.
The sauce was delicious but I always end up wishing I'd made more. I mixed in broccoli, green pepper, and a portobello mushroom as well.
I used canola oil instead of vegetable oil and I think that's what killed this for me. I'll not bread it next time either. Sauce was good. I did like others suggested and cutted it by about 1/3rd.
What a wonderful recipe! I actually froze some tofu before hand because I heard it changed the texture of the tofu and wanted to try it out, but I wasn't sure what to use it for (stir fry, in fried rice..etc)..when I found this recipe I knew I had to give it a shot! Usually I suck at frying things that have batter on it, but this was so easy I almost couldn't believe it. the sauce was absolutely perfect and so simple to make. My bf and his family aren't vegans but they absolutely LOVED it..his dad asked if I could make more next time and SOON! lol thank you so much for this!
P.s. I also doubled the sauce because everyone recommended it and I'm glad I did :D
I just made this tonight and my wife and I loved it! Thank you.
Some modifications|
I used Morningstar Farms chik'n strips. I also added red bell pepper, mushrooms, and bok choy.
What I would do differently next time:
I would either add spices to the "egg" and corn starch coating, in order to add more zip to the flavor of the "meat" and/or I would skip the corn starch and use ground sesame seeds. I think this would knock it out of the park.
I would also cut the oil in the saute from 3T down to 1T. 3 is too much oil, for my taste.
The last thing I would do is add a lot more spice. I like it spicy and I misjudged how much red pepper to add.
I followed this recipe exactly as written, and it was awesome...I was worried about the corn starch sticking to the tofu, but I had no problem. I have never cooked tofu with corn starch before...but will probably always use it now! The sauce was sooo good!!
SO SO SO GOOD!!!!! OMG EVERYONE MUST MAKE THIS ASAP! ;D
Pages