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?
In my tofu experiences, I've found that it always comes out perfectly when it's been frozen for a while, thawed (I use the microwave), and most of the excess moisture has been squeezed out. I don't "press" it, per se..but just squeeze it after it's been thawed. I like to always coat/sprinkle the cubes with cornstarch before frying. Make sure that it is golden.and seems like it's crispy. I don't like recipes that cook the tofu in a sauce..before cooking it on its own because it is, like you say-tofu like. It has to be crispy! The frozen technique has never failed me..and i don't know for sure that it wouldn't be the same without the cornstarch...but I'm scared to try it without! My husband and I now love tofu b/c of this technique! : )
I love this recipe! However, when i made it, the tofu came out very...well...tofu-like because I was impatient and didn't freeze it beforehand.
I'm wondering, do you think pressing the tofu is a good sub for freezing it? Or does it absolutely need to be frozen and thawed for the right texture?
This was so delicious! I've been wanting to make this for a while now but kept putting it off. I'm so happy I finally made it. I do have to admit that it took me quite a while to cook it but having a fussy 9.5 month old didn't help. By the way my son absolutely loved it. He kept crawling over to me to get more even after eating his dinner. My husband loves it too. He said it reminds him of slippery shrimp. One of his favorite Chinese dishes that he ate before becoming vegan. Thank you for posting this recipe. Everyone needs to try it!!!
Yummy stuff. I like the idea of coating the tofu with the cornstarch and frying it that way. I may try that with some of my other tofu recipes.
Lincat
This is a really good recipe (the sauce is phenomenal)--but how could it not be, with all that sugar and fried goodness? My qualms about this recipe lie in the fact that fried tofu slathered in sugar and salt is not healthy, at all. I really loved this recipe, but I'd consider making a few adjustments--substitute some of the sugar with agave nectar and/or maple syrup, and use low sodium soy sauce. Also, the tofu can be baked with the sauce slathered on.
Apart from that... it was really good. My boyfriend deemed it the best thing I've ever made. My only problems with cooking was when I fried the tofu--some of the cornstarch coating stuck to the pan (regardless of the oil used) and came off the tofu. I still cooked it and put it in the plate, they added some crunchy bits. But it would've been nice if it had stayed on... I'm not sure what I did wrong there.
I cut the sugar in half and didn't fry the tofu in egg and cornstarch. I just quickly stir-fried the tofu and then put it on a baking sheet for a while. I don't mind the tofu soft at all. The recipe was still delicious. Pretty easy to make more healthy!
I made this because it was the most popular recipe. I halved the tofu and kept the sauce at the prescribed amount. This worked best for two people. Served over rice and broccoli. Right before I served it I told my wife I was unsure of the outcome, and to not get here hopes up. Well after the first bite I was blown away, and scraffed down the rest like I was starving. I was amazed at how well the sauce tasted, and the creamy goodness of the tofu was great. I am a new vegetarian and have not cooked tofu much, this dish revealed how tasty it can be.
I thought this was a really good recipe. But I didn't have any fresh ginger or minced ginger, I only had ground ginger. So, I used a T. of that and it was very strong!
I will remember the right stuff next time.
Made this last night.....awesome! Substituted MorningStar Chik n Nuggets for the tofu, made the dish simple and easy. Double the sauce though.
Tastes really good! I made more sauce and less sweet. I found it sweet enough by only adding 2 Tablespoon of sugar.
Thanks for the this delicious recipe!
I knew this would be extremely fabulous..if I could pull it off..and I guess I did! There's definitely a reason why this is the most popular recipe! Soooo very good. I ran out of egg replacer..but just mixed up some more..and ended up just dipping each tofu piece in cornstarch. I doubled the sauce..but only used 5-6 tbs sugar..and added lots of red pepper flakes. I served it over brown sticky rice...and since it was so good, I didn't want to mess it up and just had zucchini on the side. : ) Love it.
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