Kung Pao Tofu Stir Fry

4.5 from 4 votes

Kung pao tofu- a delicious, flavor packed sweet and spicy tofu side dish in under 40 minutes! This is a homemade vegan take on popular Chinese takeout dish kung pao chicken. Pan fried tofu tossed in a delicious sweet, spicy kung pao sauce that is so flavorful, served with crispy roasted peanuts!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: kung pao tofu

Servings: servings

Calories: 428kcal

Author: Harini

Ingredients

8 oz tofu pressed and cut into cubes
3 tablespoons corn flour
1/2 teaspoon cracked black peppercorn black pepper powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Sauce

2 tabespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce siracha
1 tablespoon red chili paste optional
2 teaspoons brown sugar or maple
1 tablespoon rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar

For Stir Fry

3 tabespoons toasted sesame oil
1 inch ginger peeled and minced
4 garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 teaspoon red chili flakes 3-4 dried red chilies
1 large white or red onion cubed
1 medium red pepper cubed
1 medium green pepper cubed
1 medium yellow or orange pepper cubed
salt to taste
1/3 cup roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
chopped scallion greens for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Press the tofu block using a tofu press or heavy object for 20 minutes. Cut into cubes.
Combine 3 tablespoons corn flour, salt and 1/2 teaspoon cracked peppercorn or powdered peppercorn into a large bowl.
Add the tofu cubes and toss well. You can add 1-2 tablespoons water to keep the flours intact.
Heat 3 tablespoons sesame oil in a pan. Place the batter coated tofu. Fry the tofu cubes until golden brown. Remove to a tissue paper and set aside.
Next to make the sauce, heat 2 tablespoons sesame oil in a wok or pan. Once the oil is hot, add red chili flakes and crushed ginger garlic. Fry in high heat for a minute.
Add cubed onions and saute for a minute in high heat.
Next add the cubed bell peppers. Saute in high heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add all the sauces, vinegar, brown sugar or maple red chili paste if using
Mix well and add salt to taste.
Mix and cook for 3-4 minutes or until all the ingredients come together. Add the pan fried tofu cubes.
Finally add toasted peanuts and sesame seeds. You can also add chopped scallion greens. Mix well. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Notes

Before you begin with the recipe, make sure to press the tofu really well for 20 minutes. This will remove all the moisture from tofu and it will hold its shape well after frying.
You have to fry the tofu well before tossing in the sauce. Here I have pan fried the batter coated tofu using less oil. You can bake or even deep fry as per preference.
Keep all the ingredients ready before beginning as you have saute the ingredients in high flame in any stir fry recipe.
Generally this stir fry tofu is not very saucy. It is on the drier side. So I do not make any corn flour slurry or add water to the sauce. If you want a sauce you can mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, add some corn flour slurry and mix.
To make this dish extra spicy you can fry some dried red chilies along with ginger garlic. I have used red chili flakes here instead of dried red chilies.
Chop all the veggies in uniform size for quick cooking.
Vary the quantity of sauces as per your taste.

Serving Suggestions

We love this kung pao tofu with rice.

You can serve with brown rice, jasmine rice or long grained rice.

This stir fry also goes well noodles.

Nutrition