General Tso’s Tofu

I love Chinese food, but it’s really hard to find fully vegan Chinese food when eating out. Lots of restaurants use animal based broths in the sauce, and it’s super hard to find a gluten free gravy even at a vegan restaurant. This General Tso’s tofu uses air fried tofu, so it’s a great, healthy alternative to eating out. Plus all of the sauce ingredients go into a blender so there’s pretty much no prep work. Everyone will be super impressed that you made your own sauce, and no one will know that you hardly put any work into making it! I won’t tell if you don’t tell! Also, I’ve recently discovered that the best way to make fried/air fried tofu is to tear it instead of cutting it! It gives the tofu a meatier texture and the batter sticks better than the cubes. You’re welcome! This is how we made it:

General Tso’s Tofu

Ingredients:

Tofu:

1 package extra firm tofu, torn into about 1” x 1” pieces or whatever size pieces you like

2 tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

2 tbsp rice vinegar

¼ cup cornstarch

2 tsp paprika

Pinch cayenne

Sauce:

1 cup veggie stock

2 dates, pitted

1” piece of ginger, peeled

2 thai chillies, chopped and seeded

2 cloves garlic

4 tbsp rice vinegar

3 tbsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

3 tsp tomato paste

2 tsp cornstarch

Veggies:

½ lb broccoli

4 or 5 mushrooms, sliced

Rice to serve

Directions:

Mix together the 2 tbsp Bragg’s and 2 tbsp rice vinegar to marinate tofu. Let the tofu marinate while you prep the batter.

In a small bowl, mix together the ¼ cup cornstarch, paprika, and cayenne.

Coat the basket of the air fryer in a little oil. Toss each piece of marinated tofu in the cornstarch mixture to coat, and place it in the basket of the air fryer. You will likely have to work in two batches. Cook the tofu for 12 minutes at 370 F, flipping over halfway through. If you don’t have an air fryer, you can also bake the tofu. Baking the tofu at 350 F will take closer to 20 minutes flipping halfway through.

Now, let’s make sauce. Throw the veggie stock, dates, ginger, chillies, garlic, vinegar, Bragg’s, tomato paste, and cornstarch into a high powered blender. Blend until liquid smooth. If your blender is not high powered, you may want to grate the ginger first.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add a little water, and then the broccoli and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes until the broccoli is bright green and begins to soften.

Add in the air fried tofu and the sauce. Cook for a few minutes or until the sauce thickens. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

Serve over rice and enjoy!