Kung Pao Tofu (宫爆豆腐)

4.94 from 30 votes

 A delicious and better-than-takeout Chinese Kung Pao Tofu or Gōng bào dòufu! These are crisp pieces of tofu in a deliciously savoury, sticky, sweet, sour sauce with a kick of numbing spice from Szechuan peppercorns and that extra crunch from the peanuts.This is a vegan and vegetarian friendly recipe perfect paired this with rice for a super tasty and satisfying meal!

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 25

Total Time 40

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Chinese, Sichuan, Szechuan

Servings

Calories 589 kcal

Ingredients

Tofu

500 g extra firm tofu

Sauce

1 tbsp chinese black vinegar or rice vinegar (see notes)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp chili garlic sauce or chili oil (adjust according to desired spice), see homemade recipe here
3 tbsp room temperature water
1/2 tbsp cornstarch or potato starch
1 tsp grated or minced ginger
2 cloves garlic minced
1 scallion sliced (white parts included)

For Tofu Coating and Cooking

3-4 tbsp cornstarch or potato starch
¾ tsp salt
1/4 cup neutral oil for frying (more or less depending on the size of your pan)

Sautéing

1 tbsp neutral oil for pan-frying
1/2 medium onion sliced into squares
1 small red bell pepper sliced into squares
2 dried chiles optional (see notes)
1 scallion chopped (white parts included)
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine sub with dry sherry or other rice wine
1-2 tsp szechuan pepper powder or whole peppercorns (see notes)
1/4 cup fried or roasted peanuts plus more for garnishing (see notes)

For serving

More scallions for garnishing
Steamed rice

Instructions

Tofu

Drain excess water out of the tofu. I usually do this by wrapping them with a towel and placing a plate on top of them but you can also opt to use a tofu press.

Sauce

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl or measuring cup. Set aside.

Coating the Tofu

Slice the tofu diagonally into large squares before cutting them in half to form triangles. You can also slice them into 1-inch cubes.
In a large bowl or container, mix in the cornstarch and salt.
Coat each piece of tofu in the cornstarch mixture. If you need more cornstarch to coat the tofu, feel free to add 1 tbsp more.

Cooking the Tofu

Heat a large non-stick pan or skillet over high heat. Add in around ¼ cup of oil. Note that this will depend on the size of your pan. But a thin later of oil to cover the surface of the pan is good. Leave the oil to heat up.
Once the oil is hot, add in the coated tofu.
Pan fry the tofu over medium high heat on each side until golden brown and crisp. Ensure that the tofu do not stick to one another in the pan. You may need to fry them in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your frying pan.
Set the tofu aside.

Sautéing

Peanuts: If you're using raw/untoasted peanuts, you can quickly dry toast them on the pan until lightly brown and aromatic before cooking the rest of the dish and just set them aside for later.
Whole Szechuan peppercorns: If using whole peppercorns, lightly toast these then remove from the pan before adding the onions and peppers.
You can remove some oil from the same pan and leave 1 tbsp for sautéing.
In the same frying pan over high heat, add in the onions. Sauté until tender over high heat, around 1 minute.
Add in the bell pepper and cook until tender, around 2 minutes.
Turn up the heat. Add in 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or other rice wine then leave for 30 seconds to 1 minute until it has evaporated.
Add in the szechuan pepper powder then mix well. If using whole peppercorns, I recommend to lightly toast the whole peppercorns then adding it back into the pan when the onions and bell peppers are tender.
Add in the scallions and dried chili (if using) the mix together.
Afterwards, give the sauce good mix again to prevent the starch from sticking to the bottom. Over medium heat, pour in the sauce to the pan. Immediately stir. The sauce will slowly thicken due to the starch.
When the sauce has slightly thickened, add in the crispy tofu pieces and immediately mix to coat.
By this time the sauce will have thickened into a glaze.
Turn off the heat then add in the peanuts.

To Serve

Mix well and then serve immediately while hot to enjoy the tofu while they’re still a little crisp!
Garnish with some scallions, if desired. Enjoy with some rice.

Notes

Peanuts

If using heavily salted peanuts, I highly recommend to lessen the soy sauce in the sauce to 2 tbsp first and just add more soy sauce, to taste, if needed.
If you're using raw/unroasted peanuts, you can quickly dry toast them on the pan until lightly brown and aromatic before cooking the rest of the dish and just set them aside for later.

Black Vinegar

I highly recommend to use Chinkiang or Chinese black vinegar for this recipe because it has this subtle fruitless that you don't get with other vinegar. But if you don't have access to it, then you can use rice vinegar.

Sauce:

Feel free to adjust the amount of vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and chili oil depending on how you’d like your sauce to taste!
For a gluten-free option: use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Dried Chiles

If you opt to use dried chiles, you can opt to keep them whole or slice them up if you'd like that added spice.

Szechuan Pepper:

You can add more or less szechuan pepper according to your desired numbing spice.
I have whole Szechuan peppercorns that bought in around 1 year ago (they last really long, as long as you store them in a cool try place) that I just process or ground up into an almost powder form to use for my recipes.
If using whole peppercorns, I recommend to lightly toast the whole pepper corns first before adding the onions and peppers.
For this recipe, you can opt to use either whole to crushed/ground peppercorns but I would really recommend it in powder form for the best flavour.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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