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?
Omg this is so yummy!
I totally changed it up cuz I didn't have any red pepper or vegetable stock and I'm not a fan of brocolli.
I used pre-fried tofu and only coated it in egg and as a vegetable stock substitute I used water with chili powder, minced garlic, celery seed, basil, and vegetable oil. It makes a great salad dressing as well! :)
This recipe is pretty high in calories, that's the only downside to it :'(
I just wanted to add my rave review, with a story. The first time I made this, the tofu worked out horribly. It took too long, the cornstarch clumped and burned, etc.
This time I followed people's advice to use a bag (clean paper or large ziploc) to put the tofu and cornstarch in and shake up. I didn't use the egg replacer because the water from the tofu (even when pressed) is enough to get the cornstarch to stick. I also doubled the sauce (definitely a must) but only used 3T total of sugar.
So that was the key for me. Also, preparing everything ahead of time, and cooking the tofu in a big wok while cooking the veggies in another skillet. I then added the sauce to the veggies, let that cook a bit, and then added the sauce/veggies to the wok. Definitely took more than 30 minutes, but so worth it!
Oh man, this stuff is scary good. I probably won't make it often, because of all the oil and sugar, but this was an awesome treat.
A few questions!
1) Has anyone used store bought sauce? If so, how much time did it take you to prepare this meal?
2) For those saying you can skip the ener-g and just use cornstarch, does the tofu have to be straight out of the package, pressed and drained, or the frozen/thawed type of tofu? I'm just wondering if both will adhere the same to the cornstarch.
3) For baking - what temp/time? Do you have to flip them over on all sides?
Thanks.
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!
Seriously great idea....almost could die happy after eating that. doubling the sauce is a must.
Benfish13, you can make the tofu for this recipe without any egg replacer at all. Just skip the egg replacer entirely, and then coat the cubes of drained, pressed tofu in cornstarch (an easy way is to put the tofu and cornstarch in a ziploc bag and shake to coat) before frying.
I live in a smaller town and i there is not a store near us that sells egg substitute that does not have any kind of egg product in it. What can i use for this recipe to substitute. This recipe looks good but i am a new vegan and need some help.
This is a good recipe, nice and simple. My husband raved over the tofu... but I ended up picking mine out and giving them to him. The sauce is delicious, even over just broccoli and rice, but I'm not a tremendous tofu-lover and this-- despite frying-- is still tofooey.
I'll definitely try this again, only marinate my tofu in broth beforehand to soften the tofu-flavor. I bet this is a rockin' meal when it doesn't slap you across the face with its bean curd.
My second time making this recipe tonight.... DELICIOUS! Thank you soooo much for sharing this!
This was SO good! I made extra sauce as advised in the commentary and had a bit left over. I added extra water to the leftover sauce and some rice noodles, then boiled it up til the noodles were tender. It made a GREAT rice-noodle-ramen dish! 5 stars!
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