General Tso's Tofu

This is an adaptation of a recipe found at vegweb.com.  It is surprisingly 

just as good, if not better, than any chinese restaurant version I

 have eaten.

Tofu:

1 box of extra firm tofu, sliced & pressed of excess water*

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons Koda Farms mochiko sweet rice flour 

3-4 tablespoons light olive oil or vegetable oil for frying

Sauce:

1 tablespoon light olive oil

6 chopped green onions
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 1/3 cups vegetable stock
4 tablespoons soy sauce
8 tablespoons organic evaporated cane crystals
red pepper to taste
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons cornstarch or mochiko flour
   

Serve with steamed broccoli and carrots or brown rice.

Drain, dry, and cut tofu into 1 inch chunks.    Mix 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and 3 tablespoons of mochiko in a plastic bag.  Add cut tofu to bag and toss lightly to coat chunks. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in pan and fry tofu pieces until golden.  Drain tofu on paper toweling, dabbing tofu with additional paper toweling to absorb excess oil.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in pan on medium high heat.  Add ginger and garlic, stir fry for about 1-2 minutes.  Be careful not to burn garlic.  Reserve ~ 4-5 tablespoons of vegetable stock. Add remaining vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper, and vinegar.  Mix the reserved stock with 2 tablespoons cornstarch and pour into mixture stirring well.  At this point, you may add the green onions and fried tofu to the sauce, coating evenly.  Alternatively, you may want to serve the sauce on the side.

Serve immediately with steamed broccoli and carrots, or over your choice of rice.

Serves: 4

Prep time is approximately 40-45 minutes.

*To prep tofu, slice the block of tofu into four equal slices. Place the slices on a cookie sheet lined with a clean cloth dish towel.  Place an additional clean cloth dish towel on top of the slices and then place an additional cookie sheet on top.  Place a heavy object, like a cast iron skillet or cast iron dutch oven, to weigh down the top cookie sheet.  Leave weighted for 10-15 minutes to squeeze out the excess water.  Then the tofu is ready for most recipes.