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?
Love this recipe
Never ever eaten takeaway, other than fish and chips several years ago before going veggie, so I have no idea what this is modelled on, but it is very very nice...
Most of the time, though, I cheap out and make a sauce based on this one with canned pineapple juice and a small tablespoon smooth peanut butter, soy sauce, with the stock (if I've been shopping that week), and add broken cashews before dishing for a bit of crunch
And the breading for the tofu is genius.
only way it could be better in my opinion is if this were a real takeaway dish and someone else did all the hard work... mmm
After reading all (well, most) of the reveiws, I decided to make this for my dinner tonight. I'll let y'all know how it goes after! :D
I made this for the second time last night and used the Morningstar Farms "chicken" strips. It was really good. I also stirred in a big package of cooked rice noodles and made it a noodle dish. Yum yum! :)
I thought it was absolutely lovely! I wish I had read the reviews before I attempted to make it - I would have made a few adjustments to my tofu prep. (I ended up with a few extra crunchy bits!)
This recipe was ok, it didnt blow my hair back all like that.
This recipe is AMAZING! The best part of it is the sauce, i should have made more! My whole family really loved it, & my mom is begging me for the recipe! I will definitely make this again!
I attempted this yesterday. I dunno what I did wrong, but the eggy coating and cornstarch did not stick to the tofu. It ended up all crusty and gross in a clump on the bottom of the pan. I got pissed and threw it out. What happened here?
Use more egg replacer. It'll help it stick better. That's what I did the second time around and it worked wonderfully.
My girlfriend said she thought the tofu need be fried more, but I didn't think so.
I did think the amount of corn starch was a bit excessive. 3/4 cup?!? I must have smaller packages of tofu around here... The amount of tofu to add to the garlic/ginger/green onion mixture was great though.
Just wanted to respond to this real quick:
If you freeze the tofu overnight beforehand it will have a better texture, that may be what your girlfriend meant with the needing to be fried more.
Also the amount of cornstarch is, I think anyway, is because the breading is yum and that coats it all thickly and evenly.
To make it easier to coat the cubes, I dry them with paper towels and then mix some flour and nutritional yeast together on a piece of paper towel. The tofu cubes have enough water in them to accept the coating by just rolling them in the flour and yeast mix. Shake off the excess four mix and fry them quickly after coating while they are still dry.
Not that this recipe needs any more reviews but:
I loved it - best stir fry I've made (not saying much), but I'll be adding this to my list of recipes to impress people.
My girlfriend said she thought the tofu need be fried more, but I didn't think so.
I did think the amount of corn starch was a bit excessive. 3/4 cup?!? I must have smaller packages of tofu around here... The amount of tofu to add to the garlic/ginger/green onion mixture was great though.
I'd also recommend reading the recipe through once, then preparing *everything*, and then making it. I typically prepare part by part, and was scrambling to keep the mix from burning. It didn't burn, but just watch out for that...
Either way, I was licking the pan after making this, and will be racing to the store to make it again soon.
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