Kung Pao Tofu

If you've ever been to a Chinese restaurant in North America, you're probably familiar with Kung Pao Chicken. It's a Chinese take-out staple. It turns out that it's actually pretty easy to make at home. Added bonus: this lets you adjust salt, sugar, and spice levels to your taste.

The recipe poster actually ended up making their kung pao "chicken" with tofu since they were cooking for a vegetarian, and that actually sounded quite appealing to me, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Kung Pao Tofu
100g peanuts
400g extra firm tofu, cubed
1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp. ginger, minced
1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorns/prickly ash
2-3 dried chiles, broken up
1 stalk 莴笋 (asparagus lettuce/celtuce) or substitute vegetable of choice
1 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine
2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
2 Tbsp. black vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
cornstarch slurry (1 Tbsp. cold water + 2 tsp. cornstarch)

1. Make sure that everything that needs chopping or mincing is chopped and minced appropriately.
2. Mix the wine, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil in a bowl and set aside.
3. Mix the cornstarch slurry and set aside.
4. Add a small amount of oil to the wok and gently fry/toast the peanuts over low heat. (My peanuts were sort of old and had developed a bitter aftertaste, so I ended up using slivered almonds instead.)
5. Remove nuts from wok and set aside. Increase to high heat. Let wok heat up for about 30 seconds, then add more oil (~3 Tbsp.). Add the tofu cubes and fry to golden-brown.
6. Remove tofu from wok. Wash wok if necessary before returning to medium heat. Add more oil if necessary. Add carrots, green onion, garlic, ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns. Cook until carrots reach desired done-ness.
Important note: If wok becomes very dry, add ~1/4 c. water and continue cooking. Repeat as necessary.
7. Add chiles and cook for another minute or so.
8. Raise heat to high and add asparagus lettuce (or other vegetable). Cook until wilted, adding water as necessary. (I used a large head of Shanghai bok choy here because that's what I had on hand. It worked quite nicely.)
9. Add nuts and tofu. Stir to mix.
10. Pour sauce into wok and give it a stir. Add cornstarch slurry and continue to cook and stir until sauce thickens.
11. Serve alone or over rice or noodles. Enjoy!

I made a few changes from the original recipe.

My peanuts weren't tasting so fresh anymore, so I substituted some slivered almonds. I know it's a different flavour, but it was still quite tasty and had a nice, slightly crunchy texture.

I didn't have any asparagus lettuce on hand (I'm not sure if I can even get it here, honestly), but I did have a bunch of Shanghai bok choy, so I chopped up a large-ish head and tossed that in instead.

I also doubled the quantity of sauce called for since I was planning on serving it over noodles and wanted something extra saucy for that.

The original recipe also didn't list specific quantities for the Sichuan peppercorns or chiles and suggested adding salt and/or MSG to taste. I found the soy sauce added enough salt for my taste, so I didn't include any extra. I went with two chiles for this rendition because I wanted to make sure it was mild enough for the froglet to eat. They were hardly perceptible in the finished dish, and I think I'd use at least four in future attempts (and a lot more if I'm not planning on sharing with the little one). I think 1 tsp. is about right for the Sichuan peppercorns, but mine don't seem to be very potent, so it's hard to tell.

As mentioned above, I served my kung pao tofu over some noodles. They weren't anything particularly special, but I'll run over what I did quickly for any who might be interested (or for my own future reference).

Fried Brown Rice Vermicelli
200g brown rice vermicelli
2 Tbsp. oil
1 green onion, chopped
dash of garlic powder
dash of ground white pepper
splash of light soy sauce

1. Cook noodles however you prefer. I like to put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, let them sit for a minute or two, then drain.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add noodles. (It may help to oil the noodles first and then add little to no oil to the pan for frying.)
3. Add the green onion, garlic powder, and white pepper and stir fry until noodles begin to brown and crisp and green onion is cooked.
4. Add a splash or two of soy sauce and stir to coat. Serve topped with stir-fry of choice.