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Oct 3, 2020

kung pao tofu


Overview

Time: 30 minutes
Dishes: large skillet, oven, baking pan or cake pan, measuring cup

Heads Up! teriyaki sauce


Hello, hello Dear Readers!

This meatless, vegetarian and vegan dish is an old favorite recipe of ours, but it calls for brown rice syrup. Since that ingredient is hard to come by, I wanted to recreate it with more readily available ingredients and a simpler preparation. This is sweet and as spicy as you like it, but was on the table in 30 minutes, plus an extra 15 for my brown rice. It's always the brown rice holding things back!

If you have time to press the tofu (and you do if you are making brown rice) do so, otherwise, just bake it as is; it'll still be great.

This is such a quick, easy and delicious recipe that I wonder why we don't have it more often. Oh, yeah, the brown rice syrup. With the easy substitution of using molasses and maple, the syrup doesn't have to be searched for any longer. If you have it and prefer that, omit both the molasses and the maple and substitute an equal amount of the brown rice syrup.  

Enjoy!




Speedy Cooking Tips:

  • If you are serving rice, start that first
  • Press tofu for 10 minutes (optional) while oven preheats
  • Prepare the tofu and bake
  • Prepare the sauce and chop vegetables
  • When tofu is 10 minutes out, start the Vegetables section in the recipe
 



Kung Pao Tofu

Makes 4 servings 

easy


Preheat oven to 350-F

Serve with Rice and Steamed Broccoli 

1. Tofu: Combine the tofu and teriyaki sauce on a 9X9 baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.

1-pound (pressed preferably) tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

2. Sauce: Combine the ingredients in a measuring cup and stir well:

3 tablespoons Blackstrap molasses

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3. Vegetables: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ingredients and cook for 5 minutes, until peanuts are golden, stirring often:

2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon grated ginger

2/3 cup peanuts

1 bell pepper, chopped

3 scallions, chopped

4. Add the Tofu and Sauce to the skillet, stir and cook for 2 minutes until thickened. Taste and add salt and pepper. Serve with rice and broccoli.




© 2020 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.





4 comments:

  1. The glaze on that tofu is making me wish I could eat it through my screen! Funnily enough, brown rice syrup has been available in our supermarkets here for years and years! It is called rice malt syrup here. So I never have an issue in getting it.
    I bought a bottled teriyaki sauce a while ago for some other recipes, but it was so salty!!! I need to try another brand, or make my own for this. I seem to recall there is a teriyaki sauce recipe in EVE!

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    1. I haven't been able to find one that I really like, either - too salty or too much sugar or too much fat. You are correct! There is one in EVE and it is authentic and easy to make, as long as you have the four or so ingredients. I need to make some, too!

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  2. made it for lunch today. It's wonderful! Took me a little longer than 30 minutes, but that's my fault. My pantry is a mess and I can never find what I'm looking for. I Knew I had all the ingredients, but...

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    Replies
    1. Very happy to hear it! I'm sorry about the timing; I've been there and know what a pantry can become. I recommend pulling out all your ingredients before you start cooking. It somehow saves on stress if you aren't looking for something while something else is waiting on the stove. Thank you for the comment!

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Thanks for your comment! I'll check if it's spam and post if it is not. I appreciate your time and effort for commenting! ~ Zsu