Kung Pao Tofu is a vegan version developed from Kung Pao Chicken which gets the same popularity with Mapo tofu in worldwide. And surely it is a dish I make from time to time.
Tofu is always considered as a good replacement for meat in many Chinese dishes. And it is the best partner of lots of Szechuan style stir fire sauce like kung pao sauce 宫保汁(gōng)(bǎo)(zhī) and fish flavor sauce (鱼香汁).
For all vegan readers: Kung pao sauce is great for almost all chunky vegetables. Besides this kung pao tofu, you still have other options like Kung pao mushroom, Kung pao cauliflower and Kung pao Lotus root.
Ingredients
- 1 pound firm tofu or extra firm tofu
- 3 tablespoons vegetable cooking oil
- 1 green pepper, cut into small pieces
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 3 to 5 dried red chili pepper (I use whole pieces to reduce the hotness)
- 1/8 teaspoon whole Sichuan peppercorn
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch root ginger sliced
- 2 leek scallions, cut the white part into small sections
- 1 tbsp. roasted peanuts
- ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- a small pinch of salt (around 1 teaspoon)
- 1 inch ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoon sugar
Cut tofu into 2cm dices, add oil and then fry the tofu pieces over medium fire until golden on one side.
Then turn over and make them golden brown on four sides.
In your wok, hot oil and fry dried red pepper and Sichuan peppercorn until aroma. Place garlic, ginger and half of the leek onion sections and keep frying over slow fire for half a minute.
Place tofu and pepper pieces in.
Slightly stir the kung pao sauce so there is no starch sticking to the bottom. Pour in the sauce and give everything a big stir fry to make every piece well-coated. Ad toasted peanuts and the remaining leek onion sections. Mix well and serve immediately.
My favorite way for serving those kung pao tofu is steamed rice. But it can be served with noodles or steamed buns too.
Main Course
Sichuan cuisine
Kung Pao, tofu
-
1
pound
firm tofu or extra firm tofu -
3
tbsp.
vegetable cooking oil -
1
green pepper
, cut into small pieces -
1
red pepper sliced -
1/8
tsp.
Sichuan peppercorn -
3 to 5
dried red chili pepper
, I use whole pieces to reduce the hotness -
2
garlic cloves
, minced -
1
inch
root ginger sliced -
2
leek scallions
, cut the white part into small sections -
1
tbsp.
peanuts
-
½
tbsp.
dark soy sauce -
1
tbsp.
light soy sauce -
1
tsp.
a small pinch of salt -
1
inch
ginger grated -
1
tbsp.
chopped green onion -
2
garlic cloves
, finely chopped -
1
tbsp.
cornstarch -
1
tbsp.
vinegar -
2
tbsp.
water -
2
tsp.
sugar
-
Cut the firm tofu into cubes around 2 cm. And then drain to remove the water on the surface.
-
Cut red pepper and green pepper into small pieces.
-
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for stir-fry sauce.
-
Heat up 3 tablespoons of peanut oil in wok. And get the cubes in to stir-fry until tofu becomes gold-brown in surface. Move the tofu cubes out and pour the extra oil out of the wok, left around 1 tablespoon of oil in.
-
Fry dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn until aroma and then place ginger, garlic and half of leek onion in to stir-fry over slow fire until fragrant; return tofu cubes in along with pepper pieces.
-
Slightly stir the kung pao sauce and pour in. Give everything a give stir fry until the tofu cubes are well coated. Add toasted peanuts and the remaining leek onion sections. Mix well and serve with steamed rice or noodles.
This recipe is firstly published in 2013 and then re-written with new photos in April, 2017.
Calories from Fat 324
