Homemade General Tso Tofu Recipe

A popular favorite Chinese recipe is the General Tso. I have always loved General Tso and would order that often at a Chinese restaurant. When I moved in with my vegetarian boyfriend a few years ago, I wondered how I could create something like General Tso for us. Eventually after a lot of researching, and testing out recipes. I have found the perfect General Tso recipe that is vegetarian friendly!

General Tso Tofu

1 box extra firm tofu
1 egg
3/4 cup cornstarch
vegetable oil for frying (i prefer sesame oil for extra flavor)
3 chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
2/3 cup vegetable stock (broth)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp white vinegar
red pepper to taste (optional)
1 tbsp sherry (optional)

Drain, dry, and cut tofu into small chunks/cubes. A trick on how to dry the tofu is to gently pat each cube dry with paper towels. Pat until you feel much less moisture. Also you can freeze the cubes of tofu the night before for a much more textured consistency. Just be warned, you will have to re-dry them once they thaw out, and make sure to thaw for five hours or so before you prepare for dinner.

Get two small bowls out, pour the egg into one bowl, stir until mixed well. Then in the other bowl, pour the cornstarch in. Dip each cube into egg and coat completely, then pat in the bowl of cornstarch. I like to repeat this once again so the coating is extra thick. For vegans, you can use an egg replacer in place for the egg. It works, as I have tried this myself.

Before you start frying the tofu, make sure to start cooking the rice, follow the instructions on the back of your package of rice, and use however much you think is appropriate.

Heat up the vegetable oil, in my case, I use sesame oil as it gives the tofu more flavor. Fry each cube until golden, flipping every few minutes to make sure each side is crispy.

Heat up 3 tbsp veggie oil in a pan on medium heat. Add green onions, ginger, and garlic. Cook for two minutes. Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper and vinegar. Sherry is optional, I have never tried this myself. Mix 2 tbsp water with 1 tbsp cornstarch, and then pour into mixture, stirring well. You will see the mixture thicken almost immediately, as soon as it's thick enough, remove from heat.

Add mixture to fried tofu, coat well and sprinkle sesame seeds onto tofu if desired. Top onto rice. Enjoy!