Recipe from Tyler Kord
Adapted by Elaine Louie
- Total Time
- 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(285)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Tyler Kord, the chef-owner of the No. 7 Sub shops in New York, has made the submarine a thing of juiciness, beauty and exoticism. “I like soft bread and fancy ingredients inside,” said Mr. Kord, who worked at a Subway when he was 16, in Ithaca, N.Y., and eventually became sous-chef at Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Perry Street restaurant in New York. Take General Tso’s Tofu Sub, a brilliant study of layered textures and flavors. The centerpiece is a deep-fried panko-crusted rectangle of firm tofu, golden and crusty outside, and creamy inside. Mr. Kord layers the tofu between edamame purée, homemade pickled cucumbers and a piquant sauce named after General Tso that includes ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and chilis. The blender does the work, in three quick steps. The result is startling. It is what Mr. Kord wants it to be: crunchy, creamy, salty, sweet and sour, all in one bite. —Elaine Louie
Featured in: The Temporary Vegetarian: General Tso's Tofu Sub
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Ingredients
Yield:2 to 4 servings
- 1small chunk of ginger, 1½ inches long, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1clove garlic, roughly chopped
- ¼cup soy sauce
- 2tablespoons sweet soy sauce
- 2tablespoons white vinegar
- 2tablespoons mirin
- ½teaspoon sesame oil
- 1½small red dry Chinese chilis
- ½teaspoon salt
- ½teaspoon sugar
- ½teaspoon xanthan gum, optional
- 2cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1small chunk ginger, 1 inch long, peeled and sliced against the grain
- Half a shallot, roughly chopped
- ¼teaspoon sesame oil
- ½teaspoon sugar
- 1½teaspoons salt
- 1small red dry Chinese chili, seeded
- ½cup white wine vinegar
- 1scallion, in three-inch lengths, sliced vertically into chiffonade
- 1½cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and sliced crosswise ⅛-inch thick
- ¾cup frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
- Vegetable oil, for deep frying
- ¼cup salt
- 1½teaspoons sugar
- ¼teaspoon paprika
- ¼teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼teaspoon onion powder
- 8ounces firm tofu, drained and cut into 4 slices
- 3large egg whites
- 3tablespoons cornstarch
- ½cup panko bread crumbs
- 2subway (submarine) sandwich rolls
- Mayonnaise
- Sesame seeds
For the Sauce
For the Pickles
For the Edamame Purée
For the Tofu
For Assembly
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
For the General Tso sauce: In a blender combine ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, vinegar, mirin, and sesame oil. Add chilis, salt, sugar, and xantham gum, if using. Process until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and set aside.
Step
2
For the pickles: In a clean blender combine garlic, ginger, shallot, sesame oil, sugar, salt and chili. Blend until slightly smooth, but still mostly chunky. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add the vinegar, scallion and cucumbers. Mix, and set aside.
Step
3
For the edamame puree: In a clean blender puree edamame and just enough water to make a smooth paste. Transfer to a small bowl, and set aside.
Step
4
For the tofu: In a deep fryer, preheat vegetable oil to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together salt, sugar, paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. Place the tofu on a plate, and sprinkle both sides of the tofu with about a tablespoon or more of the salt mixture, saving the rest for later use.
Step
5
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites and cornstarch until blended and smooth. Place panko in a shallow bowl. Dip the seasoned tofu slices into the egg white batter, gently shake off excess batter, and dip in panko, covering the tofu thoroughly. Deep-fry in the oil until deep golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove and drain.
Step
6
For assembly: Cut the subway rolls open lengthwise. Spread one side of each with edamame purée, and the other side with mayonnaise. Quickly dip both sides of the fried tofu in the General Tso sauce, and place two slices of tofu, end to end, on one side of each subway roll. Top the tofu with drained pickled cucumbers, garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and finish by topping with the other side of the roll. Cut in half, and serve immediately.
Ratings
4
out of 5
285
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Jessica
waaaaaayyyyyyy too salty. made this a second time and I reduced the soy sauce, and massively reduced the salt in the spice rub. that made it edible, whereas previously it was not.
Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor
You definitely only want to use about a tablespoon of the spice/salt mixture on the tofu. Save the rest for later.
janet
this recipe does require some adjustments I used only 1 tsp salt in the tofu spice and upped the paprika,garlic powder and onion powder to 1 tsp each and it was delicious ! adjust seasoning to your liking we love spice
Katherine
Not only is this WAAAAAAY too salty (soy sauce and 1/2 tsp salt in the General tso sauce AND 1 1/2 tsp salt in the pickles AND that insane 1/4 cup of salt - which I did not use- for the tofu seasoning ) but it is an enormous amount of work and clean up for a sandwich. Plus far too messy to eat. The edamame puree is completely without presence. I won't make this again.
ratspice
I agree with Jessica that the recipe leans toward being entirely too salty. There's no way the tofu seasoning should have a 1/4 cup of salt. Adjust your salt seasoning and you should be fine with this recipe.
Dee
took the advice to cut back a bit on the salt... used bahn mi sandwich rolls, ABSOLUTELY delicious.
Barbara Thomas
I appreciate the salt warnings.
Stephen
I didn't read the comments before making, but I should have. It was SALLLTY. Admittedly, I was trying to use this for tempeh instead of tofu, but I cut back on salt and still ended up with an inedible result. I definitely should have been sparing on my sauce usage, but I ended up wondering whether maybe the "1/4 salt" for the tofu portion might be a typo... My advice: tread with caution.
Thom
Didn't have edamame so made a puree' of sugarsnap and snow peas that worked just fine. A LOT of prep for a couple of sandwiches but, wow, are they tasty! Was able to use some of the sauces and pickles for other recipes, too.
Stephen
I didn't read the comments before making, but I should have. It was SALLLTY. Admittedly, I was trying to use this for tempeh instead of tofu, but I cut back on salt and still ended up with an inedible result. I definitely should have been sparing on my sauce usage, but I ended up wondering whether maybe the "1/4 salt" for the tofu portion might be a typo... My advice: tread with caution.
Dee
took the advice to cut back a bit on the salt... used bahn mi sandwich rolls, ABSOLUTELY delicious.
Katherine
Not only is this WAAAAAAY too salty (soy sauce and 1/2 tsp salt in the General tso sauce AND 1 1/2 tsp salt in the pickles AND that insane 1/4 cup of salt - which I did not use- for the tofu seasoning ) but it is an enormous amount of work and clean up for a sandwich. Plus far too messy to eat. The edamame puree is completely without presence. I won't make this again.
Barbara Thomas
I appreciate the salt warnings.
ratspice
I agree with Jessica that the recipe leans toward being entirely too salty. There's no way the tofu seasoning should have a 1/4 cup of salt. Adjust your salt seasoning and you should be fine with this recipe.
janet
this recipe does require some adjustments I used only 1 tsp salt in the tofu spice and upped the paprika,garlic powder and onion powder to 1 tsp each and it was delicious ! adjust seasoning to your liking we love spice
Jessica
waaaaaayyyyyyy too salty. made this a second time and I reduced the soy sauce, and massively reduced the salt in the spice rub. that made it edible, whereas previously it was not.
Margaux Laskey, Staff Editor
You definitely only want to use about a tablespoon of the spice/salt mixture on the tofu. Save the rest for later.
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