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?
I made this tonight for a hungry, omnivorous family of 8. They all scarfed it down (even though I managed to mess it up a little), declared me a genius cook, and gave me permission to make dinner whenever I desired. I used fresh garlic straight from the garden, and added some green beans and some water chestnuts. Aside from messing up the sauce, it did turn out really good. It wasn't spicy enough for my tastes, so next time I'll add more pepper (and maybe do the sauce right, as well).
Also, I quadrupled the original recipe, and doubled half of the sauce.. if that makes any sense. It took me around 2 hours to complete, but I let the sauce, tofu, and veggies simmer for a bit to absorb flavor.
Oh, I'm definitely making this again. 5 stars.
Hello, I made this last night.. it was great.. I think i would add more garlic..
This is such an amazing recipe! A little difficult, but well worth it!!
Very tasty, though I made a dog's breakfast of the breading-and-frying, but that's just me, I usually do. I should have added more red pepper. Very good and we'll be eating this again.
They sell pre-fried tofu at our Asian grocery, I can see making just the sauce for a quick dinner after a day's shopping,and tossing in the pre-fried stuff. But home fried is probably better for you.
adamcrisis - your post made me laugh sooo much.
now my review:
This was yummy BUT there's a sauce by Blue Dragon (I live in UK) that I can buy that tastes pretty similar to this - and what with all the sugar that this recipe contains, I'm sure the pre-made stuff can't be any less healthy than this recipe.
I'm not sure that I will be making this again - not sure it's worth it as it's sooo unhealthy, with all the sugar and all (and as prev mentioned the availability of a pre-made one)
Having said that I liked the whole tofu crunchiness and may do this again if I'm feeling naughty.
Yum! What a delicious dinner! I made this last night and savoured every bite. And I have leftovers too - I made sure to make extras after reading all the comments. :)
I served mine on brown rice, with lightly steamed zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms. My husband absolutely loved it too - our conversation during the meal was mostly "Mmmm!" and other related sounds. :P
mmm. yea. much better than china king.
I woke up at 7am this morning at a loss what to do. Im not hungover, I dont have to work.....lets make some General Taos Tofu! As my roomate walks into the kitchen to feed the cat and go to work he askes me "what sort os a jerk wakes up at 7am on his day off to cook tofu?"...This jerk right here!
This recipe is rad and deserves all the praise it gets. Im looking forward to making it again the next time, because the first time you try a recipe its always not as good as future endeavors. Definatly freeze the tofu and thraw and drain well if you want firmer chickeny texture.
Only changes Id make next time is not add the friend tofu to the sauce, but drizzle the sauce over the tofu right before eating it This will keep the tofu extra crispy (I never thought I could get tofu that crispy). Also I'll try not to forget the vinegar either this next time, haha...ahhh 7am.
I served with broccoli and water chestnuts.
As for the picture, well it looks awesome, really is better to mix it all together....and the chopsticks were a nice compliment to the dishes image, but the truth is.....I was out of clean forks.
Serve with coffee and watch Man vs Nature on Discovery Channel.
SO, I made this as the directions said, with just a few changes. I added some sliced mushrooms to the oil first before adding the onions etc... this made a yummy flavor to the sauce. I decided to double the sauce as recommended and did not have enough of my organic cane sugar so I used agave nectar instead. Yummmy! The whole thing was absolutely amazing! I think my favorite part was the fact that the left overs were still crispy the next day! I will be making this OFTEN!!!! :D
I though this was fabulous! I made some changes based on suggestions (doubled the sauce, reduced the sugar, played with the cornstarch stuff etc.) But I also made one extra change.
I put all ingredients for the sauce (and deissolved the sugar) in one bowl before adding it. I chopped the onions, garlic, and ginger together and put in one bowl. This just made everything so much easier than the first time I made it when I had the timing all off.
Either way this is an awesome recipe, that I'll make frequently!
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