This Crispy Mongolian Tofu dish is inspired by the ubiquitous Mongolian Beef, commonly served at Chinese-American restaurants. These pieces of tofu are shallow-fried to a crispy golden-brown and coated with a familiar savory and sweet sauce.
They go so perfectly with freshly steamed rice — I easily finished two bowls and was left wanting more. Traditionally, the Mongolian-style sauce is not a spicy one, but I found that dried chilis gave it a pleasant little kick. Feel free to leave it out!
Crispy Mongolian Tofu
Course: DinnerCuisine: Chinese, AmericanDifficulty: Easy2
servings5
minutes20
minutesCrispy Mongolian Tofu inspired by “Mongolian Beef” commonly served at Chinese-American restaurants.
Ingredients
1 block medium -firm tofu, twice frozen and thawed
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup room temperature water
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 scallion, segmented
2 dried chilis, seeds removed & segmented
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, for garnish
- Thickening Agent
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
Directions
- Prepare the Tofu. For this recipe, we’re working with twice frozen and thawed tofu. As the name suggests, the tofu has been frozen, thawed, frozen again, and completely thawed again. Using a heavy object or a tofu press, press the tofu down for at least 15 minutes, pressing out as much liquid as possible. At the end of the pressing, the height of the tofu should have halved. Using your fingers, pull away chunks of the tofu (I tend to think about strips). You should get chunks that aren’t completely even and look naturally pulled. Carefully place the tofu pieces in a ziplock bag along with cornstarch. Shake the bag to evenly coat all the tofu pieces.
- Fry the Tofu. In a wok/pan, heat up a generous amount of vegetable oil on medium-high heat (think about shallow-frying). Once the oil is hot, fry the tofu pieces until each side becomes golden-brown and crispy. Remove from the oil and drain on a kitchen towel to remove excess grease. Set aside.
- Make the Sauce. Heat up a clean wok/pan on medium heat. Start the sauce by frying together the minced garlic, ginger, dried chilis, and brown sugar. Keep stirring and heating until the sugar is melted and caramelized, around 3-4 minutes. Deglaze the wok/pan with the soy sauce and water. The sugar is likely to harden and clump up, but just keep stirring until it dissolves again. Reduce this sauce for around 2 minutes and finish it with the thickening agent (cornstarch slurry). If the sauce wasn’t already boiling, bring it up to a light boil and it should thicken up nicely.
- Finish the Dish. Remove the wok/pan from the heat and add the crispy tofu back into the sauce. Add the scallion segments as well. Stir to coat evenly. Finish with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds. Enjoy warm with rice.
Notes
- When frying the tofu, make sure there is enough oil for shallow-frying. You might end up with parts of uncooked cornstarch (in the layers and crevices of the tofu) if there isn’t enough oil.
- Fun Fact: This dish actually originated from Taiwan, and was popularized in the US by Chinese-American and Taiwanese-American restaurants.
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Tried this tonight. I over-fried mine so it was a smidge too crispy, but it tasted SO good that we will be having this again (and I’ll be sure to fry it correctly).
Tried this for the first time today – I’m so amazed at the texture that can be achieved with the tofu!! Great recipe, looking forward to making this again 🙂
Made this tonight for me and my family and absolutely loved it! Only had time to press the tofu for about an hour beforehand but turned out amazing regardless!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
Hi Jace!! that’s awesome =)) I’m glad you liked it xx
This was amazing! Stepping into vegan waters and knowing I can not only tolerate tofu, but fall head over heels for it, is inspiring – because I hate tofu. A convert.
Hi Shelley!! ahh thank you for this, tofu is really something beautiful :’)) To be completely honest, I’m a relatively recent convert myself as well. Glad you enjoyed it xx
Could I put in about a teaspoon of garlic chili sauce instead of dried chili?
Hi Katie!! Yes, that sounds great as well 🙂 Hope you’ll like it! x
So good! Will be adding this to my regular meal rotation
Yay Megan!! So glad you enjoy it x
Made for dinner tonight and was so delicious.
Happy to hear that you enjoyed it Ashley!! xx
I’ve now made two of your recipes twice in like once week because once wasn’t enough lol soooo good, I can’t wait to keep trying more!
Hi Kelly! Oh man, that’s too much! I hope you’ll like all of them :’))
Hello,
This recipe is amazing. I added a few seasonings to the sugar like sage, turmeric and garlic chili sauce, which really gave it a burst of flavor. I served it over cold rice noodles and fell in love. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Hi TaMarria!! That sounds awesome =) I’m so glad you liked it!! No problem x
This was so wonderful! Thank you for this tasty recipe! Made it for dinner, and it was a hit 🙂
Hi Emily! Ahh im so glad you liked it!! No problem xx
I just made this dish tonight for dinner and it was super tasty! It was my first time using the double thaw method but wow was it worth it! I highly recommend this dish and have already shared it with friends!
Wow!!!! Unbelievable texture and flavor. Can’t wait to make this for everyone I know. Thank you so much for all of your great vegan recipes.
made this tonight and it came out so good. I couldnt get ‘strips’ of tofu. they broke into various sized chunks. I used a mix of avocado oil and veggie oil for frying and added a small sprinkle of dried chili flakes. I may have to double the batch next time as i’d love to have leftovers. This recipe is a keeper!!
I need to tell you that this recipe is DELICIOUS and you are my hero.🥰
THIS IS SO GOOD OFF THE CHARTS BANANAS GOOD GOD BLESS
Me & whole family love it.
BOWS 🙏🌠
Wow George I made this tonight and it was so delicious. The double freeze method is a game changer, makes it the best tofu we’ve ever had. I served it with steamed broccoli and bok choy 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe!!
I just tried this today and I’m amazed at the tofu texture!! Next time I make this I’ll probably double the amount of dried chilies or maybe add chili oil on top but that’s just me being a spice addict. Thank you so much for this recipe!
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This is my new favorite recipe! I’ve made it about once a week since we found it on tiktok. The twice frozen and thawed tofu is so good–thank you!! (My boyfriend says you’re a genius.)
I hate tofu, but this recipe made it taste as good if not better than meat. Getting tofu to be flavorful, crispy, and chewy instead of bland and soft has always been unattainable for me… This is going to be a staple. Thank you!
I made this the other night. It’s delicious and so quick and easy! Thank you!
mmmmmh so yummy 11/10 would recommend
Tried this last night and just had the leftovers for lunch. The results were SO satisfying! This recipe was easy to follow and execute. Delicious – thank you! 🙂
I’m eating it as I type this. Thank you!!! It’s incredible. I had no idea tofu could be that crunchy and the sauce is amazing too. I love it!
This is my favorite dish when I order takeout, so I was really excited to try it at home. The texture of the tofu turned out amazing and the sauce was easy and super flavorful! I will definitely double the recipe next time so I can have more leftovers. So good!
I just made this tonight and it was delicious!! This was my first time trying the double freeze method for tofu and it makes such a difference. I can’t wait to make this for friends!!
I made this for myself tonight but my family ate most of it lol. Really good and relatively quick (minus all the freezing and thawing). Thanks!
I love Mongolian beef, but I have never tried tofu. I have a fear of texture when it comes to food. I took a big step out of my comfort zone and tried this tonight for dinner. It was amazing. I’m going to try the three cup later this week. Thank you for this recipe and for inspiring me to try something new.
I made this last week and it was delicious. I’d love to meal prep this for lunches, but I’m unsure of how the tofu will hold up after being microwaved. Any recommendations?
Thank you Caroline!! I’m glad you enjoyed it. When I prepped extra, I did find that the tofu will not be as crispy the next day. A good way to reheat is to use a 400 F / 200 C oven & bake them for 5-10 minutes.
I was absolutely blown away. Perfection. Thank you for teaching me.
This is one of my favorite recipes! So easy to make and it’s delicious! I make it all the time. Thank you for sharing it 🙂
10/10 recommend. The double freeze gave the tofu great texture and the sauces tasty. I used fresh jalapeños in place of the dried chilli because that’s what I had and it worked perfect.
Made this for the first time tonight with extra firm tofu, I found it a little too crispy. Do you think there needs to be alterations to the amount of corn starch used? Or stick with the medium firm tofu? Thank you! Everything else, the sauce came out amazing.
Hi Laila! From my experience, medium-firm tofu works the best for this purpose. Extra firm tofu has too little water and becomes really dry even after frying (like you said). I don’t think altering the amount of corn starch would actually help — it has to do with the internal water content of the tofu more. Try using firm tofu (just not extra-firm) if you cannot find medium-firm tofu!
Soooooooooo tastyyy!!
Didnt have any sugar or maple syrup in the house last night so used about a teaspoon of black strap molasses instead, it worked!