General Tso's Tofu
General Tso's chicken is said to have originated in NYC in the early 1970s from Hunan style American Chinese cuisine, named after the Qing Dynasty military leader. When seen in American Chinese restaurants, you typically will get chunks of battered and fried chicken breast tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce.In this particular recipe, I decided to go for a more healthier option and used tofu. This dish is really easy to make and tastes so much better than what you'd get at a Chinese take out. You can easily control the spice level by adding more or less chili oil. This dish can even be made vegan if you replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 brick firm tofu
- 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
General Tso sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 tsp sambal chili paste
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp chili oil with chili flakes
- 6 dried thai chilis
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Use firm tofu.
- Wrap in several layers of paper towel.
- Weigh down with another plate plus something no more than 3 lbs for 20 minutes. I use my favorite cookbook, The Joy Of Cooking.
- Cut tofu brick in half horizontally.
- Flip the cut side up and cut those horizontally.
- Cut these pieces into six.
- You should have 24 pieces when finished. Take another piece of paper towel and dab any extra moisture.
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 3 tbsp of cooking oil. Add the tofu. Cook for 4-5 minutes a side, until brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
- In the same skillet, drain the oil and wipe clean. Over medium heat, add the chili oil, dried Thai chilis, and garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Mix together the soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, sambal, chicken stock, and cornstarch. Add them to the skillet, reducing the heat to medium low. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the fried tofu.
- Cook for 1 more minute, making sure that the tofu is evenly coated with the sauce.
- Serve with steamed rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
