Forget about the peppercorn or dark soy sauce, they are not a must, you can still make a very good kung pao tofu in a vegan way.
What is Kung Pao (or Gong Pao/ Gong Po) actually?
Google it, you will find a lot of difference in details. However, there are a few things in common. I guess you only need to remember a guy named Ding Baozhen, whose job title was “Kung Pao”. His favourite dish is something like chilli sauce stir-fry chicken and he served it to his guests some times. He did great in his political career, so people name this dish after him. That’s the story, simple huh?
Actually I don’t care much about food history.
The thing is, I’ve got a pack of soon-to-be-expired tofu and I want to cook it now. Then I came across this recipe online. Although I cooked without Chinese peppercorn and dark soy sauce, it was still very tasty.
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 450 g firm tofu
- 2-3 scallion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
- 1 dried chilli, deseeded and chopped
- roasted peanuts
- coriander (to garnish)
For the Tofu Batter
- 70 g potato starch (or 40 g corn starch)
- ¼ tsp five spice powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 60 ml (4 tbsp) water
For the Sauce
- 1 ½ tsp rice vinegar
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 160 ml warm water
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp starch
How to Make Vegan Kung Pao Tofu
- Pat dry the tofu and cut into 1.5cm cubes. Mix all the tofu batter ingredients and then evenly coat the tofu.
- Heat a large pan with a generous amount of oil, semi-fry/fry the tofu until golden brown and set aside. Meanwhile, mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Heat some more oil in the same pan, fry the garlic, ginger, scallions and chillis until fragrant. Pour over the sauce and stir well.
- Add the tofu and peanuts to the sauce. Sauce should be thickened. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice.
More Easy Tofu Recipes
- Simple Tofu Recipe in Comforting Tomato Sauce
- Sesame Crispy Tofu Recipe in 15 mins (No Deep-fry)
- Pan-Fried Balsamic Tofu Recipe
- 【One Pan】Easy Mapo Tofu Vegan(Japanese Recipe)
- Easy Five Spice Tofu in 15 Minutes
