General Tso’s Tofu

5 from 13 votes

Crispy tofu chunks are drenched in sweet and spicy gingery sauce and served up with broccoli and rice to make this flavor-packed General Tso's tofu.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Entree

Cuisine: American, Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 349kcal

Author: Alissa

Ingredients

For the Sauce

¼ cup chilled water
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the General Tso's Tofu

1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
⅓ cup cornstarch (plus more as needed)
¼ cup canola oil (or high heat oil of choice, plus more as needed)
5-10 dried red chile peppers cut in half*
2 medium scallions, chopped, white and green parts separated (about ¼ cup total)
1 medium broccoli crown, broken into florets (about 3 cups)
Toasted sesame seeds
Cooked rice, for serving

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set it aside.
Cut the tofu into 1-inch cubes (or triangles, or your favorite shape!).
Place the cornstarch into a shallow bowl.
Generously coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. You'll need the oil to be about ¼ inch thick.
Give the oil a minute to heat up, then dredge a few tofu cubes in the cornstarch, and transfer them to the hot skillet. Add just as many tofu cubes as you can fit without crowding.
Cook the tofu for about 5 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp on the bottom. Flip the tofu pieces and cook for about 5 minutes more, until the pieces are crispy on the opposite sides.
Remove the tofu from the skillet and transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate.
Cook any remaining tofu using the same method, adding oil to the skillet between batches if needed.
If the skillet is dry at this point, add a dash more oil. Raise the heat to high.
Add the chile peppers and white parts of scallions. Stir-fry for about a minute, until the scallions become fragrant and the chiles darken a bit.
Add the broccoli to the skillet and continue stir-frying until the broccoli is tender-crisp and bright green, about 4 minutes.
Return the tofu to the skillet and add the sauce. Flip everything a few times to coat the broccoli and tofu with the sauce.
Cook everything just until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute.
Remove the skillet from heat and sprinkle with green parts of scallions, and sesame seeds.
Divide the General Tso's tofu onto plates and serve it with rice.

Notes

*For a milder version of the dish, remove the seeds from the dried chiles before adding them to the skillet. You can also skip the chiles altogether, or substitute sriracha or sambal oelek to taste.

Nutrition information includes 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds per serving and does not include rice.

Nutrition