Kung Pao Tofu – Connoisseurus Veg

This Kung Pao tofu is made with chunks of gingery baked tofu tossed with stir fried veggies and peanuts in spicy sauce. An easy Chinese-inspired vegan dinner that’s better than takeout and easy enough for a weeknight!

There was a time when I ate at Chinese vegetarian restaurants constantly. I loved those places! Most of them have a full menu that looks like a normal Chinese restaurant menu, but every item is totally meatless.

The kung pao tofu was my favorite! Unlike many of the dishes that were made with fried tofu, this own used baked tofu. It was awesome! Baked tofu is delicious, and perfect with the finely diced and stir-fried veggies and crispy peanuts you find in any Kung Pao dish.

So I when I went and decided to create my own version of Kung Pao tofu, I baked my tofu. That was a great decision!

What You’ll Need

• Shaoxing wine or dry sherry. Using either of these ingredients will add great flavor to your baked tofu and sauce, but feel free to substitute vegetable broth or water if you prefer.
• Soy sauce. Substitute gluten-free tamari if you’d like.
• Maple syrup. You can substitute another liquid sweetener, such as agave, if you’d like.
• Toasted sesame oil. Look for this in the international foods section of your supermarket.
• Ginger.
• Tofu. Extra-firm works best for this recipe. You’ll need to press it before cooking.
• Rice vinegar. You can use another variety of vinegar, such as white vinegar, if that’s what you’ve got on hand.
• Hoisin sauce. You can find this in the international foods sections of most supermarkets.
• Sambal oelek. This is a spicy sauce you can find in most supermarkets’ international foods sections. Feel free to substitute sriracha or another hot sauce, or leave it out for a milder version of the dish.
• Cornstarch.
• Canola oil. Or substitute another high-heat oil, such as peanut oil.
• Garlic.
• Scallions.
• Dried chile peppers. Another item to look for in the international foods aisle. You can also find them in Asian markets, or leave them out to reduce the heat in this dish.
• Bell peppers. Use any color! I like red and orange.
• Baby corn.
• Peanuts. Buy ones that are roasted and salted.
• Cooked rice. Serve your kung pao tofu over this. Feel free to use your favorite variety — I’m a big fan of jasmine rice.

How to Make Kung Pao Tofu

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe.

Bake the Tofu

• Stir your marinade ingredients together in a small bowl: wine, soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil and ginger.
• Place diced tofu in a shallow dish and pour the sauce over it. Give everything a gentle stir.
• Let the tofu marinade for at least 30 minutes, or up to 12 hours. Be sure to cover and chill the tofu if you let it soak for more than 2 hours. Also try to give it a little stir from time to time, in order to redistribute the marinade.

• Arrange your tofu on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake it until the pieces shrink up and become very firm.

• Tip: To save time the day of serving, you can prepare the tofu a day or two in advance. Store it in a sealed container in the fridge, and warm it up a bit before adding it to your stir-fry.

Make the Stir-Fry

Once your tofu has baked, you can move on to this step.

As with any stir-fry, prep your veggies and mix up your sauce first. Things will move pretty quickly once you start cooking!

• Heat up some oil in a skillet and start cooking your aromatics: ginger, garlic, scallions (just the white parts) and dried chile peppers. Within less than a minute, the garlic and ginger should become very fragrant and your peppers should darken up a bit.
• Add diced bell pepper and baby corn. Tip: Feel free to use your favorite stir-fry veggies in place of these, keeping in mind that harder veggies may take a bit more time to cook, while softer veggies will cook faster. Stir-fry your veggies just until they become tender-crisp. This should only take a couple of minutes.
• Add your sauce, tofu, and peanuts.
• Continue to stir-fry everything for about a minute, until the sauce thickens up.

• Top your kung pao tofu with the green parts of your scallions and serve it with rice.

Leftovers & Storage

Leftover stir-fry will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Chinese-Inspired Vegan Dinners

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Kung Pao Tofu

This Kung Pao tofu is made with chunks of gingery baked tofu tossed with stir fried veggies and peanuts in spicy sauce. An easy vegan dinner that’s better than takeout and easy enough for a weeknight!

Ingredients

For the Baked Tofu

• ¼
  cup
  Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
  (substitute water or vegetable broth for a non-alcoholic version)
• 2
  tablespoons
  soy sauce or tamari
• 2
  tablespoons
  maple syrup
• 1
  teaspoon
  toasted sesame oil
• 2
  teaspoons
  freshly grated ginger
• 1
  (14 ounce or 400 gram) package
  extra firm tofu,
  drained, pressed, and cut into ½ inch cubes

For the Sauce

• 3
  tablespoons
  soy sauce or tamari
• 2
  tablespoons
  rice vinegar
• 2
  tablespoons
  maple syrup
• 2
  tablespoons
  hoisin sauce
• 1
  tablespoon
  Shaoxing wine or sherry
  (omit for an alcohol-free version)
• 1
  tablespoon
  sambal oelek,
  or to taste, optional
• 2
  teaspoons
  cornstarch

For the Stir-Fry

• 2
  tablespoons
  canola oil
• 3
  garlic cloves,
  minced
• 2
  teaspoons
  freshly grated ginger
• 3
  scallions,
  chopped, white and green parts separated
• 5-10
  dried chile peppers,
  halved
• 2
  bell peppers,
  any color, diced
• 2
  cups
  fresh baby corn,
  cut into 1 inch pieces
• ½
  cup
  roasted and salted peanuts

Instructions

To Make the Baked Tofu

1. Stir the wine, soy sauce or tamari, maple syrup, sesame oil and ginger together in a shallow dish. Add tofu and toss to coat. 

2. If you have the time, allow the tofu to marinate for 30 minutes or up to 12 hours in the refrigerator. If you don’t have time, don’t worry about it!

3. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Arrange the tofu cubes in an even layer on the baking sheet. 

4. Bake the tofu for 30-35 minutes, until the pieces have darkened and shrunk significantly, flipping them halfway through.

Make the Stir-Fry

1. Whisk all ingredients for the sauce together in a small bowl.

2. Coat the bottom of a large wok or skillet with the oil and place it over high heat. 

3. Give the oil a minute to heat up, and then add the garlic, ginger, white parts of scallions, and dried chili peppers to the pan. 

4. Stir-fry the ingredients until the garlic and ginger become fragrant and the chili peppers darken a bit, about 1 minute.

5. Add the bell peppers and baby corn to the skillet. Stir-fry until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. 

6. Lower the heat a bit, then carefully add the sauce, tofu, and peanuts to the pan, Continue to stir-fry just until all of the ingredients are hot and coated with sauce, about 1 minute. 

7. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the green parts of scallions.

Serve

1. Divide onto plates and serve with rice.

Recipe Notes

This is meant to be spicy! If you aren’t into that, skip the dried chiles and the Asian chili paste. If you aren’t sure of just how into that you are, just skip the chiles and add the chili paste at the end, a bit at a time.

Nutrition information does not include rice.

 

Nutrition Facts

Kung Pao Tofu

Amount Per Serving

Calories 468
Calories from Fat 209

% Daily Value*

Fat 23.2g36%

Saturated Fat 4g20%

Sodium 1291mg54%

Potassium 774mg22%

Carbohydrates 46g15%

Fiber 6.4g26%

Sugar 21.7g24%

Protein 19.1g38%

Calcium 220mg22%

Iron 6.1mg34%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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