Kung Pao Tofu is a vegan version developed from Kung Pao Chicken which gets the same popularity with Mapo tofu in worldwide. And surely it is a dish I make from time to time.

Tofu is always considered as a good replacement for meat in many Chinese dishes. And it is the best partner of lots of Szechuan style stir fire sauce like kung pao sauce 宫保汁(gōng)(bǎo)(zhī) and fish flavor sauce (鱼香汁).

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

For all vegan readers: Kung pao sauce is great for almost all chunky vegetables. Besides this kung pao tofu, you still have other options like Kung pao mushroom, Kung pao cauliflower and Kung pao Lotus root.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound firm tofu or extra firm tofu
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable cooking oil
  • 1 green pepper, cut into small pieces
  • 1 red pepper sliced
  • 3 to 5 dried red chili pepper (I use whole pieces to reduce the hotness)
  • 1/8 teaspoon whole Sichuan peppercorn
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 inch root ginger sliced
  • 2 leek scallions, cut the white part into small sections
  • 1 tbsp. roasted peanuts
Stir-fry Sauce:
  • ½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • a small pinch of salt (around 1 teaspoon)
  • 1 inch ginger grated
  • 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 teaspoon sugar

Cut tofu into 2cm dices, add oil and then fry the tofu pieces over medium fire until golden on one side.

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

Then turn over and make them golden brown on four sides.

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

In your wok, hot oil and fry dried red pepper and Sichuan peppercorn until aroma. Place garlic, ginger and half of the leek onion sections and keep frying over slow fire for half a minute.

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

Place tofu and pepper pieces in.

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

Slightly stir the kung pao sauce so there is no starch sticking to the bottom. Pour in the sauce and give everything a big stir fry to make every piece well-coated. Ad toasted peanuts and the remaining leek onion sections. Mix well and serve immediately.

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

My favorite way for serving those kung pao tofu is steamed rice. But it can be served with noodles or steamed buns too.

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

Vegan Kung Pao Tofu

This is a vegan kung pao tofu recipe developed based on kung pao chicken.
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Sichuan cuisine
Keyword: Kung Pao, tofu
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 513kcal
Author: Elaine

Ingredients

  • 1 pound firm tofu or extra firm tofu
  • 3 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
  • 1 green pepper , cut into small pieces
  • 1 red pepper sliced
  • 1/8 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn
  • 3 to 5 dried red chili pepper , I use whole pieces to reduce the hotness
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 1 inch root ginger sliced
  • 2 leek scallions , cut the white part into small sections
  • 1 tbsp. peanuts

Stir-fry Sauce:

  • ½ tbsp. dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. a small pinch of salt
  • 1 inch ginger grated
  • 1 tbsp. chopped green onion
  • 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp. vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 2 tsp. sugar

Instructions

  • Cut the firm tofu into cubes around 2 cm. And then drain to remove the water on the surface.
  • Cut red pepper and green pepper into small pieces.
  • In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for stir-fry sauce.
  • Heat up 3 tablespoons of peanut oil in wok. And get the cubes in to stir-fry until tofu becomes gold-brown in surface. Move the tofu cubes out and pour the extra oil out of the wok, left around 1 tablespoon of oil in.
  • Fry dried chili pepper and Sichuan peppercorn until aroma and then place ginger, garlic and half of leek onion in to stir-fry over slow fire until fragrant; return tofu cubes in along with pepper pieces.
  • Slightly stir the kung pao sauce and pour in. Give everything a give stir fry until the tofu cubes are well coated. Add toasted peanuts and the remaining leek onion sections. Mix well and serve with steamed rice or noodles.

Notes

This recipe is firstly published in 2013 and then re-written with new photos in April, 2017.

Nutrition

Calories: 513kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Sodium: 1602mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 785IU | Vitamin C: 9.8mg | Calcium: 315mg | Iron: 3.4mg

Kung Pao Tofu |chinasichuanfood.com

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45 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I don’t follow recipes, but after looking at 7 or 8 recipes, I chose this one. We just returned from a month in Asia, and really enjoyed the food, so we wanted to continue eating Asian food. Since I don’t eat meat or chicken, I choose tofu. A lot of recipes have a complicated method of making tofi taste like meat. This recipe has a very simple process that works. If you want it more spicy, you will need to break up one or two of the red peppers.

    1. Thanks Neal. This is such a great feedback. Yes, for a even hotter version, breaking red peppers is quite effective.

  2. 5 stars
    This was so delicious, i made some adjustments and doubled the sauce but skipped the salt. I think it’s perfect! Many thanks for this recipe.

  3. Hi, The recipe shows ginger and garlic in both the kung pao sauce and also added to the peppercorn and chili when they give the aroma. Is it in both or just when the chili and peppercorn are fried.

    Thanks.
    Ven