Kung Pao is so popular as a Chinese takeout dish. I used to love the chicken version years ago, and I can recreate exactly the same thing using tofu. My Kung Pao Tofu is quick, easy and vegan to boot.

Some recipes are very versatile like that. All you have to do is replace the protein or omit it altogether and you still have the essence of the original dish. Some recipes, not so much!

Luckily, Kung Pao Tofu is an easy one and perfect for weeknights or lazy weekends.

This is a spicy dish but you can control the heat when you make it at home. There are three main components of the Kung Pao for me. The celery, the dry red chilies and the peanuts. These absolutely cannot be replaced. Then the pepper and carrot are also a must, but you could do without them in a bind.

The sauce gets its flavor from ginger/ garlic, and celery and chili. A basic brown sauce is sufficient here making this stir fry very easy to make.

You can use more or less celery depending on the type available. The ones with the broad ribs, the kind you can stuff are relatively milder. The organic celery is stronger. And the celery we get in India is highly potent and very thin. Even a little of this gives a lot of pungent flavor.

Like any vegetarian dish, this one is flexible with respect to which veggies to use. Use anything you would use in a stir fry, and go with what you have on hand.

I made this very spur of the moment, and didn’t take any good photos as I am battling a cold. But I just wanted to post this recipe. So I am going with the snaps I have now, as crude as they are! ( You may have noticed, I am making an attempt to improve the qualities of the photos on the blog).

So the next time you crave Chinese food, give this Kung Pao a try!

Kung Pao Tofu Recipe

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Ready under 20 minutes, you can’t get takeout faster than that. Serve over brown or white rice or even over bulgur for a hearty and healthy vegan meal.