Description

A quick and easy make at home version of a classic Chinese take-out dish, General Tso’s. Crunchy, Sweet, Spicy and ready in under 30 minutes!

Ingredients

Scale

Sauce

2 tbs vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs fresh ginger, minced

1 tbs red pepper flakes

2 tbs tomato paste

4 tbs chili paste

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 tbs lime juice

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbs Sriracha

2 tbs corn starch

2tbs water

Tofu and Batter

1 14 oz. package extra firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/2 inch squares

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tbs corn starch

1 tsp salt

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 cup soda water* (see notes)

3–4 cups vegetable oil (enough to fill the bottom of a large pot about 1 inch.

Instructions

Start by combining two tablespoons of cornstarch and two tablespoons of water, whisk them together and set aside. Heat two tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a large pan. Add in the garlic, ginger and pepper flakes and cook for about 2 minutes stirring frequently, be sure to not burn the garlic or ginger.
In a large bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, chili paste, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, maple syrup, brown sugar and Sriracha until fully incorporated. When the garlic and ginger are fragrant, pour the sauce mix into the pan with the garlic and ginger and whisk. Continue whisking until the sauce starts to bubble, then pour in the corn starch and water mixture and whisk until incorporated. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce, whisking frequently for 10 more minutes.
When the sauce is thickened, remove it from the heat and set it aside. Now it’s time to fry the tofu! Heat 3-4 cups of vegetable oil, enough to fill about 1 inch at the bottom of a large pot over medium heat. The oil is ready to fry when it sizzles and pop upon flicking water into it. Prepare the batter by whisking the flour, cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder in a large bowl. Pour in the soda water and whisk until it forms a thick batter, it should be a similar consistency to pancake batter.
You can dip the tofu pieces in the batter one by one until coated and drop them into the oil. I added all of the tofu chunks together and toss until fully coated in the batter and them dropped 8-10 pieces in the oil at a time. It takes about 3 minutes for the tofu to fry, it will start to slightly brown. Remove the tofu and place on a large plate lined with paper towel to soak up the oil. Repeat until all the tofu has been battered.
Place the tofu into a bowl and add the sauce, stirring softly until the tofu is completely covered in the sauce. Serve with steamed rice and veggies! I added broccoli to mine and it was delicious!

Notes

Soda water here is what helps give the batter that light airy texture like a tempura batter almost. However, I’ve used plain water here as well for the batter and it works fine!