Saturday, January 19, 2008

General Tso's Tofu

Well bite my ass and call me Sally! I had another recipe lined up for today, but last night was such an incredible success, I couldn't wait to share it. I figured out how to make restaurant-style General Tso's Tofu. Ready?



2 C dried bean curd skin/peel
2 C broth (1 bouillon cube = 2 C broth)
1 C cornflour
1 C General Tso's Sauce (recipe)
vegetable oil for frying
1 green onion, chopped (or regular onion)
some dried chili peppers (or slices of red pepper)

This makes 4 good portions.

(notes about ingredients following recipe)


Instructions:




You'll probably serve this with rice, so start it now to make sure it'll be ready

1. Boil 2 C of water and add bouillon cube. Stir until dissolved.

2. Put dried tofu in a bowl. Pour 1 C of broth over to cover tofu. Stir around.

3. Let sit for 10-15 minutes (whenever you don't feel any hard parts). You may need to add more broth as needed.

4. While soaking, chop your green onion/onion and dried chilis/red peppers. Place cornstarch in a tall bowl.

5. Heat 1/4" of oil in frying pan on Med/Med-High heat. Drop an onion chunk in. When it sizzles, it's ready. (BE CAREFUL OF NOT GETTING ANY LIQUID IN THE OIL!)

6. When tofu is ready, drain the excess broth.

7. One at a time, place about 10 soaked tofu bits in the bowl of cornstarch. Gently swirl it around to cover completely. They should look dry. If moisture is coming through, give them another swirl.

8. Gently place in the oil. Fry each side about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.



9. Repeat 7 & 8 in small batches until all gone (duh).

10. On your last batch, heat up another frying pan and on low-med sauté your onion and peppers.

11. When veggies are soft, add the fried tofu chunks and sauce. Mix around until sauce is heated.



Serve hot with a side of rice!



NOTES:
*Dried tofu skin is ideal. I bought mine at an Asian grocery store.

You could also rehydrate other types of tofu and have this still work I'm sure.

*Vegetarian chicken bouillon works the best.

*Save your leftover broth for another recipe, or for a base for a small bowl of soup.

*I use IRON CHEF brand General Tso's Sauce. It's got the right kick to it and it doesn't use high fructose corn syrup.

*OIL PRECAUTIONS! Make sure your pan is completely dry before adding oil. Make sure your hands and any freshly rinsed utensils are DRY. One accidental water drop in the oil will cause it pop and splatter! You or someone else could get burned or ruin your favorite shirt! No one needs that.

*It's very easy to half or double this recipe, so do as you please! =)

26 comments:

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

so very yum, those dried tofu skins look real odd and delish. and general tao's tofu is clearly heaven in a bowl. nice!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Daaaamn, that looks GOOD!

Unknown said...

This is so beautiful. Now I'm hungry! Thanks for sharing! :)

Anonymous said...

this looks amazing, I've seen those little tofu knots and I never knew what to do with them! I can't wait to try this.

Anonymous said...

The tofu knots, where were they located at the store? They are my favorite and i've been looking everywhere for them. Do they just call them dried tofu skins?

Rachel Swetnam said...

This is my blog so answer Rachel back on this.

Anonymous said...

i'm so excited to have found this! i stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and bought the tofu skins just for this reason... and then couldn't find it again. alas! this looks amazing, i'm going to make it tonight!

Anthony said...

marry me?

David Appelman said...

I am going to go to publix this very minute to buy supplies and try making it now.

Mari K. said...

thanks for sharing this great recipe! I can't wait to test it out!

Kat K. said...

I had this 3 times over the last 2 days, it is AMAZING! Definitely have to get back to my diet after all that fried goodness, but I can't thank you enough for bringing these bean curd knots and what to do with them to my attention. Most convincing faux meat meal I've had in my life!! You've made me one happy veggie. :)

Unknown said...

I ad libbded this because I hate following rules. I used frozen-then-defrosted tofu instead of dried bean curd. I also did not measure anything. Plus I added mushrooms.

Turned out tasty.

Basil said...

Thankyou so much for posting this recipe! I loved it- especially the sauce. I added extra veggies and served with rice, like you suggested. I will be making this one very often, for sure.

Anonymous said...

I think this may work better if the yuba was dipped in a batter and then fried...I tried coating it in corn starch and frying it and it really made a mess in the oil and the corn starch fell off....thoughts?

bmh383 said...

We just made these. So goood!! Thank you for sharing! :)

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmmm sounds yummy, I'm going to cook it up this weekend. Some suggestions if I may? Most Chinese recipies I've made call for peanut oil for flavor, think I'll give that a shot, oh and jasmine rice ya gotta have jasmine rice!

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Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I cannot wait to try making this. It looks absolutely delicious. Would I be able to replace the corn flour for all purpose flour?

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Madeline Stemwedel said...

the dried tofu skins are easy to miss. Almost everything on the packaging is in Chinese. On the back you'll find a tiny label saying "product's name: Dried bean curd peel."

Anonymous said...

I live in a very small, non veg-friendly southern town and don't have anywhere to get the knots. Do you know of any sibstitutions? By the way, this recipe looks absolutely AMAZING!

Tamara said...

Delicious recipe. I made it tonight and added sweet potatoes, spinach, and asparagus to the stir fry. We couldnt find the knot shaped bean curd, so we used the sheets. It came out great. Thanks!

Bill G. said...

General Tso's Chicken - one of the few dishes I miss being vegan. But not anymore! Thank you so much - you're an angel.

CT said...

You are a vegan recipe creating genius. I am eating this right now. Thank you!!!!

KAYO said...

So Damn good! I made it once and it blew my mind, now I'm back for more!