Well bite my ass and call me Sally! I had another recipe lined up for today, but last night was such an incredible success, I couldn’t wait to share it. I figured out how to make restaurant-style General Tso’s Tofu. Ready?
2 C dried bean curd skin/peel
2 C broth (1 bouillon cube = 2 C broth)
1 C cornflour
1 C General Tso’s Sauce (recipe)
vegetable oil for frying
1 green onion, chopped (or regular onion)
some dried chili peppers (or slices of red pepper)
This makes 4 good portions.
(notes about ingredients following recipe)
Instructions:
You’ll probably serve this with rice, so start it now to make sure it’ll be ready
1. Boil 2 C of water and add bouillon cube. Stir until dissolved.
2. Put dried tofu in a bowl. Pour 1 C of broth over to cover tofu. Stir around.
3. Let sit for 10-15 minutes (whenever you don’t feel any hard parts). You may need to add more broth as needed.
4. While soaking, chop your green onion/onion and dried chilis/red peppers. Place cornstarch in a tall bowl.
5. Heat 1/4″ of oil in frying pan on Med/Med-High heat. Drop an onion chunk in. When it sizzles, it’s ready. (BE CAREFUL OF NOT GETTING ANY LIQUID IN THE OIL!)
6. When tofu is ready, drain the excess broth.
7. One at a time, place about 10 soaked tofu bits in the bowl of cornstarch. Gently swirl it around to cover completely. They should look dry. If moisture is coming through, give them another swirl.
8. Gently place in the oil. Fry each side about 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper towel.
9. Repeat 7 & 8 in small batches until all gone (duh).
10. On your last batch, heat up another frying pan and on low-med sauté your onion and peppers.
11. When veggies are soft, add the fried tofu chunks and sauce. Mix around until sauce is heated.
Serve hot with a side of rice!
NOTES:
*Dried tofu skin is ideal. I bought mine at an Asian grocery store.
You could also rehydrate other types of tofu and have this still work I’m sure.
*Vegetarian chicken bouillon works the best.
*Save your leftover broth for another recipe, or for a base for a small bowl of soup.
*I use IRON CHEF brand General Tso’s Sauce. It’s got the right kick to it and it doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup.
*OIL PRECAUTIONS! Make sure your pan is completely dry before adding oil. Make sure your hands and any freshly rinsed utensils are DRY. One accidental water drop in the oil will cause it pop and splatter! You or someone else could get burned or ruin your favorite shirt! No one needs that.
*It’s very easy to half or double this recipe, so do as you please! =)
Ronin Dining 
so very yum, those dried tofu skins look real odd and delish. and general tao’s tofu is clearly heaven in a bowl. nice!
Daaaamn, that looks GOOD!
This is so beautiful. Now I’m hungry! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
this looks amazing, I’ve seen those little tofu knots and I never knew what to do with them! I can’t wait to try this.
The tofu knots, where were they located at the store? They are my favorite and i’ve been looking everywhere for them. Do they just call them dried tofu skins?
This is my blog so answer Rachel back on this.
i’m so excited to have found this! i stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and bought the tofu skins just for this reason… and then couldn’t find it again. alas! this looks amazing, i’m going to make it tonight!
marry me?
I am going to go to publix this very minute to buy supplies and try making it now.
thanks for sharing this great recipe! I can't wait to test it out!
I had this 3 times over the last 2 days, it is AMAZING! Definitely have to get back to my diet after all that fried goodness, but I can't thank you enough for bringing these bean curd knots and what to do with them to my attention. Most convincing faux meat meal I've had in my life!! You've made me one happy veggie. 🙂
I ad libbded this because I hate following rules. I used frozen-then-defrosted tofu instead of dried bean curd. I also did not measure anything. Plus I added mushrooms.
Turned out tasty.
Thankyou so much for posting this recipe! I loved it- especially the sauce. I added extra veggies and served with rice, like you suggested. I will be making this one very often, for sure.
I think this may work better if the yuba was dipped in a batter and then fried…I tried coating it in corn starch and frying it and it really made a mess in the oil and the corn starch fell off….thoughts?
We just made these. So goood!! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Mmmmmmmm sounds yummy, I'm going to cook it up this weekend. Some suggestions if I may? Most Chinese recipies I've made call for peanut oil for flavor, think I'll give that a shot, oh and jasmine rice ya gotta have jasmine rice!
haha excellent idea, I remember I start my own restaurant because my uncle borrow me $400 and I start with that that was 7 months ago and I'm still there, haha thanks for sharing the recipe, good luck.
Wow! This is just awesome… really Found this very interesting…. Great Recipe… I'm going to try it out… Thanks very much for the sharing and keep posting.
Thanks!
I cannot wait to try making this. It looks absolutely delicious. Would I be able to replace the corn flour for all purpose flour?
It may, I’m afraid it may just fall off. Give it a try and let us know!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I never thought I could make something from tofu that taste this good. The recipe was so easy to follow. This is definitely going to be a favorite in my life! thank you again