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 used unbreaded "chicken" strips and doubled the sauce like suggested. I had never fried anything before, and I accidentally charred the pieces of "chicken" completely. I looked at themin the oil and was expecting them to turn "golden," indicating that they were ready. Some parts of them turned golden while other parts maintained a white coating from the corn starch. So I left them in the oil way too long, and they were petrified! Maybe I also used too much corn starch. We threw all of the crispy critters in the trash and ate rice with broccoli and snap peas in the sauce. The sauce was really bland to me, even though I doubled the recipe. Maybe there was too much oil? I will try this again, but overall I think it was messy, expensive, and pretty unhealthy (since it's fried and very oily!).
Yum yum! I made this tonight and doubled the sauce. It really was delicious with extra ginger, garlic and I added a package of mushrooms. I highly recommend this - and the tofu prepared in that way was exactly like the local thai restaurants. :)
ok, i don't know how long it took to make this b/c i was having too much fun with it... i used the two hand dip method when coating the tofu with the cornstarch... i used fresh mushrooms, green onion, brocolli, and green bell pepper for the veggies and served it over rice...
well...... it was SOOOOO good, i had to stop eating to call my mother! lol and i don't normally share good food but i HAD to share this with someone else, so i took half to my non-veggie mom...she didn't eat it til late (the night after...by that time, i made another batch and did what i should have done in the first place - doubled the sauce - ) and she just about blew up my cell phone to let me know how good it was!
****i didn't use sherry and sub'd the vinegar with fresh squeezed lemon (someone else mentioned it), ground ginger instead of fresh (don't know if that matters), and i didn't use as much sugar as the recipe called for****
as soon as i get some more soy sauce, mushrooms, and vegetable oil, i'm making it AGAIN! lol
I used some chiken cutlets from healthy-eating.com instead of the tofu. This worked extremely well. I fried these and made the sauce in a separate pot and when the sauce was thickening, I dumped in thickly sliced mushrooms and slightly steamed broccoli to let the sauce cook it gently. I put the chiken in and heated it a bit. It was PERFECT! I didn't have any red pepper flakes so I used red Tabasco and that was perfect as well. I overate, however...
This was AMAZING! SO SO SO GOOD!!!!!!
The second time I made double the sauce. And to coat the tofu I poured the egg replacer mixture over it and then placed them on a plate of the cornstarch and rolled them around in it. It prevents any clumping with the liquid (other than on your fingers)
If you are worried about the unhealthiness of corn starch, you can substitute arrow root powder (found in bulk at HFS). Also, my grocery now carries an organic cornstarch! I don't think you would get the same effect without one or the other.
Does this recipe work without the cornstarch? :o
Yum! :) Just as good as everyone says it is. Few variations:
- Used morningstar Chick'n Strips instead of tofu... Didn't read the label so I'm hoping those were vegan. :-\
- Used the <a href=http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=13238.0>
Quick & Easy Baker's "Egg"</a> for the egg replacer. I ended up having to make a second batch right in the middle of frying, so I'd reccommend doubling that recipe. If you want to use the whole bag of Chick'n strips, I'd even consider tripling it.
- I've found that the easiest method to fry was to put the "egg" in one bowl and the cornstarch in another bowl, then use one hand to coat with "egg" and toss in the cornstarch bowl, then the other hand to cover with cornstarch and toss into the wok .
- Didn't have sherry, so I used balsamic vinegar.
- Doubled the sauce
- Used yellow onions instead of green onions.
Mmmmmmmm! ;D
Thanks, jkl! You are absolutely right. I appreciate everyone else's honest reviews, so I must also provide mine. :-)
Unblondie: You should not hate it when you are the one voice of dissent. It is very helpful to everyone to read flat or critical reviews. There are lots of different users on this board and lots of different tastes and levels of cooking expertise. I personally think that a lot of the recipes are overrated, but perhaps I am just more demanding of my recipes than other users. So please keep writing what you really thought. --JKL
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