Hello friends and not yet friends,
Last week, I showed you how to make the best vegan fried chicken ever.
And now we're using that amazingly juicy, crispy crunchy vegan protein to make a vegan
take on General Tso's chicken; a spicy, aromatic, sweet and sour dish with roots in Hunan, China,
Taiwan and New York City.
I've been meaning to make this dish since a bunch of you asked me to veganize this Chinese
American restaurant favourite.
By the way, if you have any requests, please leave them in the comments along with the
hashtag "reciperequest".
That'll help me find them more easily.
Ditto if you've already requested something in the comments before.
It would really help me out if you request it again or edit your old comment to add the
hashtag.
Starting with the best vegan fried chicken, this time I'll show you the oven fried method
more clearly since we kind of skipped over it last week.
If you want use another vegan chicken alternative for your General Tso's, check the description
for the timestamp to skip ahead.
We start with medium firm tofu.
Not firm tofu.
But tofu with medium firmness.
It's also sold as traditional tofu.
Do not open the package, but stick it straight in the freezer and freeze it solid.
The water that is in the tofu will crystallize and expand creating little pockets within.
After it's solid, take it out of the freezer but don't open the package.
Let it thaw.
I speed things up by letting it thaw on the counter for about four hours, until it is
still partly frozen and the outside of the package is still very cold to the touch.
Don't let it thaw all the way on the counter.
It would be too easy to leave it out too long and that's not food safe, my friends.
Let it finish thawing in the fridge, perhaps in the crisper or the door which is usually
the least cold place in the fridge.
When the tofu is completely thawed, put it back in the freezer.
This second freeze seems to help the tofu become a bit more sturdy.
If you press it before freezing it a second time, it will fall apart more easily when
you try to press it and you won't get the same texture we're going for.
You guys also asked me if you can use firm or extra firm tofu.
And of course the answer is: there are no rules.
But if you want to make the realistic, flaky, meat-like texture, stick the medium or traditional
tofu.
Firm or extra firm tofu turns spongy and grainy after freezing.
Smooth tofu has a layered effect when you freeze it.
But it's hard to press the water out; it tends to get smooshy.
I've tried it here, and it looks okay, but the texture is too soft and spongy.
It tastes strongly of tofu because it couldn't get dry enough before getting soaked in broth.
After your medium or traditional tofu has thawed for the second time, you can open the
package, drain out the water, and gently press it.
Again, I'm using the tofu mold for this job.
You can use a tofu press if you have one, or you can use two cutting boards.
Press them together over the sink or a large bowl and the tofu should compress easily and
the water should gush out.
Watch it though, don't squish it so hard that you break and smoosh the tofu.
Afterwards you can break it up into chunks.
Coat lightly in seasoned flour.
Like last week, I'm using a gluten-free one-to-one baking blend.
This particular blend creates a very nice crunchy crispy texture.
Regular all-purpose flour is heavier than this gluten-free blend.
You can lighten all-purpose flour by replacing a quarter cup with potato starch or cornstarch.
Still, after testing a few different gluten-full and gluten-free blends, I still recommend
this one.
As always, the recipe is on Mary's test kitchen.com and I encourage you to read it through from
start to finish before starting.
That's a good way to ensure success when following any recipe actually.
Next the vegan egg wash.
I'm using follow your heart's vegan egg powder and cold water.
Can you use other vegan egg alternatives?
Yes, but this is the one that tested the best.
Flax egg also works but it's not as good.
The result isn't as crunchy.
Finally, roll in the seasoned flour again, this time with rice crispies added for extra
crunch.
It will be a messy situation, can't be helped.
Now we could deep-fry these but this time we're going to oven fry.
Spray these with a little bit of oil for a lighter alternative, but I'm going to go with
a generous amount of oil.
This will help us get a very crunchy exterior that will hold up against our tasty General
Tso's sauce.
Bake these in a preheated 425°F oven for 30 to 35 minutes, flipping the pieces over
half way.
And now would be a good time to start cooking your jasmine rice and prepping the other ingredients.
Take them out when they are a nice deep golden brown.
Let those cool on a rack or a bed of paper towels.
Let's get to the rest of our ingredients.
I'm using semi-dried chilies; fresh ones that had been in the fridge drying out.
They're going to be hot.
Dried chilies aren't as spicy hot but are more fragrant.
Use what you have and take out the seeds if you want something more mild.
Veggies are not typically mixed into this dish but why not make this a one wok kinda
meal.
I love peppers for their colour, white onion for the sweetness, and broccoli so I can pretend
I'm a giant eating trees for dinner.
Our sauce consists of chicken-style vegan broth, light soy sauce, Shao Xing wine to
add fragrance and don't worry if you can't handle alcohol, I can't either.
It'll get cooked off.
Skip it if you just don't want to use wine though.
Add regular white vinegar, brown sugar, and a bit of cornstarch.
I've had some variations on General Tso's which are more sour or more sweet or more
salty; this one is more balanced.
If you want any of these aspects to be stronger, feel free to taste and adjust.
Also, I swear some taste like they have ketchup.
Feel free to add some; I'm not going to but this is your General Tso's and there are no
rules.
Mix it well and let's go to the stove.
Get your wok or large skillet nice and hot over medium heat with a couple teaspoons of
cooking oil.
As usual, I'm using canola.
Peanut oil is another good choice for handling high heat and adds a little flavour too.
Don't use your good olive oil for this.
When your oil is hot and shimmering, add the aromatics: garlic, ginger, red chilies, and
green onion whites.
Save the dark green parts for later.
They will become nice and fragrant in a minute or less.
Add your veggies if you're using them and turn the heat up a little as you stir fry
for half a minute to a minute.
Just until the veggies turn bright.
We're not cooking them all the way yet.
Give the sauce a little mix to kick up the starch and pour it in.
It'll start bubbling and get thick pretty fast.
When it does, add your vegan oven-fried chicken.
It occurs to me now that I should have made these nuggets smaller for this dish.
And I really need to get a proper wok spatula.
But before you can give either of these things much thought, your vegan General Tso's chicken
is done and just about ready to eat.
Just add the dark green onion parts.
Serve on fragrant white rice and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
And that's a bowl calling out to be devoured.
The sauce coats everything perfectly, not too much or too goopy, just enough to cling
to every surface with savory, aromatic flavour; spicy, sweet, a little tangy.
I love the colour, the abundance of veggies makes this a joy to eat.
And the vegan chicken still has some crispy crunchiness wrapping around a tender juicy
interior.
You can't taste the beany flavour of tofu at all.
If you ever liked General Tso's, you're going to love this!
And if you haven't, I'm sure you'll still love it!
Try it, and tell me what you think in the comments.
Remember, the full recipe and blog post is linked in the description box.
Plus, links to any special ingredients and the tofu mould that I used.
It was super inexpensive and even though I haven't actually made tofu in it yet, it's
been super useful!
And that's it.
Thanks so much for watching, friends.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer.
Please give this video a thumbs up if you liked it and subscribe if you haven't already
for more delicious vegan Chinese food recipes and more.
Coming up next week, how to make firm tofu from scratch!
Bye for now.