Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu (Kkanpoong Tofu)
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Why Did I Veganize This Dish?
I came up with this Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu recipe because it needed to happen. Like, there was a gaping maw in the universe that could only be filled once this recipe was created.
Ok, putting to one side my illusions of grandeur, let’s just say that this recipe was borne out nostalgia. Growing up, my family and I would go to this Korean-Chinese restaurant in K-Town called Great Seas. Great Seas was absolutely famous for its chicken wings, or Kkanpoongi. Their walls were covered in photos of happy dinners who set and broke the “how many wings can you eat in one sitting” challenge, and it was no secret why. Their sauce was so good, it was jarred, labeled, and sold by the gallon. My family would go to Great Seas for all sorts of special occasions—birthdays, graduations, the day after a juice fast. When I went vegan, I knew I would basically never be able to eat anything at Great Seas again, so I set out to veganize it. And boy, was I ELATED with the results!
Put simply, this is literally the BEST EVER tofu recipe I’ve ever made and I’m pretty sure it’ll be the same for you!
My Tricks For Making This Recipe.
- Make sure to press your extra firm tofu to remove excess liquid. This will ensure your tofu chunks are nice and crunchy.
- Use potato starch in lieu of corn starch or flour to not only keep this dish gluten free, but to make your tofu extra crispy.
- Use my favorite gluten free soy sauce in order to keep this entire recipe gluten free!
- Use vegetable oil in lieu of extra virgin olive oil in order to ratchet up the heat.
- Make sure not to allow the crunchy tofu bites to sit in the sauce too long before serving—the longer they sit in the sauce, the softer they will become.
- Serve with rice and water—this dish is SPICY!!
Other Dishes To Try:
Video: Watch Me Make It
Recipe Card
Spicy & Crunchy Garlic Tofu (Kkanpoong Tofu)
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce block extra firm tofu pressed and chopped into 1/2 inch bite sized chunks
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons potato starch plus 1 extra teaspoon
- 7 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 red onion diced
- 2 Korean green chilis, sliced can sub seeded jalapenos
- 2 whole scallions white parts chopped, green parts sliced on a bias
- 1 Tablespoon gochagaru
- 1-1 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 Tablespoon mirin can leave out if you don't have any
- 4+1 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/8 cup dried red chilis can leave out if you don't have any
- 1/2 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons of potato starch to tofu chunks. Gently toss the tofu to make sure they are all evenly coated. Set aside.
- Prep your vegetables by mincing the garlic, dicing the onion, slicing the Korean chilis, and chopping up the scallions.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing together gochugaru, soy sauce, white wine vinegar, maple syrup, mirin, and 1 teaspoon of potato starch. Set aside.
- To a very large non-stick pan, add 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat. When oil is very hot, add coated tofu chunks in one layer,making sure they are not touching each other. If they touch, they will stick to one another.
- Cook the tofu and flip them one by one, until they are brown on all sides (approximately 7 minutes). Remove the tofu chunks from the pan and set them aside on a cooling rack to drain the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining tofu.
- When all of the tofu has been fried, in the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Then add the garlic, onions, chilis, and scallions and saute the vegetables until the garlic starts to brown.
- Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the sauce, stirring it with a wooden spoon until it reduces down into a thick sauce (approximately 30 seconds). Turn off the heat.
- Gently add back the fried tofu and stir everything together, so that the tofu chunks are evenly coated in your sauce.
- Garnish the tofu with ½ tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.
Flavor is equally as good, but just different enough to be new, when using roasted garlic. Still pretty good as originally is too. 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
As a rookie I missed the difference between gochujaru and gochujang and added the latter. Probably not as hot but very tasty anyway
It was not bad but it was not really great either. I think the white wine vinegar was just a bit too much on the flavor. Likely will not make again.
Every single person I have made this for has raved about it and asked for the recipe! One of my new go-to dishes! Simple and delicious. Thank you
This was just incredible. Came here from Rainbow Plant Life but this is by far my new favourite tofu recipe.
This is a regular in our rotation. One of my very most favorites. Outstanding in every way, and everyone loves it- vegans, vegetarians, omnivores!
My wife found this recipe in one of her magazines and asked me if I could make it. I said sure, she had never tried tofu before. I made it she ate it and loved it now it’s a regular meal at our table I would strongly recommend this dish for someone that wants to try tofu.
Amazing Michael! I’m so glad your wife enjoyed it!! 🙂
Superb recipe absolutely loved it and just about to make it for the second time.
Pretty easy to follow for an unskilled home chef, thanks for posting.
whoohoooo!!!
I have made this recipe many times, and I can honestly say it’s arguably the most delicious & easiest tofu meal I’ve ever made!
Stellar recipe that came together in a jiffy. Exactly what I was looking for. The tofu was definitely crispy!! I added some veg to the mix to fill it out more – large pieces of onion, bell pepper, zucchini, shredded carrot and cabbage. And so I doubled the sauce. This one’s a keeper for flavour, ease and cost!
Wow! Easy and delicious. I wish I could share a pic because it was so pretty – I served it on finely shredded cabbage with pickled red onions (just onions tossed with lemon and salt and stored in a glass jar in the fridge) and seaweed salad. I used the green onions as topping instead of cooking them. I also used cornstarch & the air fryer for the tofu. Thank you for the recipe.
Delicious!
Amazing! I loved this so much! I used Serrano’s which were very spicy but it was so tasty and perfectly seasoned! Often I tinker with recipes to adjust to my taste, but this sauce was perfect as it is. Very well written and clear recipe.
YAYAYAYAYA!! I’m so glad!! This is truly one of my favorite recipes and I’m so happy you liked it!!
How does gochujang vs gochujaru substitution work for something like this? I’ve been addicted to the fermentation flavor
Now that I’ve made it, I think a bit of gochujang would work – it will add extra sauciness & tang. You could substitute with some mix of cayenne/paprika instead, since gochujaru is dry/ground.
Super easy and super yummy! I air fried my tofu instead and just added in at the end. Also used korean red peppers, cornstarch, rice vinegar and agave (bc that’s what I had) and still turned out great!
So delicious. Thank you.
This recipe is incredible. We’ve made it a bunch and I have some light modifications to bake the tofu instead of frying it (slightly less oil):
1. (optional) We freeze firm tofu and defrost it.
2. Cut tofu into cubes (40 cubes per block).
3. We coat in 1/2 block (20 cube) batches, 1tbsp potato starch + splash of salt in a bowl per each 1/2 block.
4. Oven at 350F, bake for 24 minutes on a silicone mat and baking sheet, flipping half way.
5. Cook veggies as normal in 1 tbsp of oil, add sauce, add tofu, mix, done.
Can you tell me the nutritional values of this recipe, including calories?
I also made it completely without oil, and it’s amazing!
WOW! That is AMAZING!!!
Indeed. It is our favorite dish now! I eat oil free for my heart, I modify any recipe with oil, and it almost always comes out perfectly
That’s really cool, Ann. After my second cookbook comes out (this fall), I’m hoping my editor will let me write the third one with all oil free recipes! I’ve been experimenting with it a lot lately (my husband has to eat less oil and sodium), and have also found that vegetable works as a great sub for oil!
I’ve longed for a recipe that can make me really love tofu. This recipe does just that for me.
This is just so delicious! I cannot get enough!
This is simply so amazing, no matter how many times I tried, i could never manage to make crispy pan fried tofu but this one was just perfect!! Spicy, a little sweet, a little salty, so delicious!!!
This makes me so so happy Renata! 🙂
Supernice! I make this once a week.
Have made this a dozen times already it’s the best!!! I air fry the tofu bits instead of frying them in a pan and it turns out perfect every time
Hi! Do you think I can substitute the Korean green chilly with the Thai ones? Thanks
How long do you air fry? What temps and do you spray oil?
The soy sauce.. is it light soy sauce, dark soy sauce or sweet soy sauce?
Absolutely delicious! Definitely going on the recipe rotation. Love the spicy garlilckly flavors & how crunchy the tofu gets.
Kayla!! Thank you for the feedback! I am so glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Caitlin! I’m so glad you like this recipe! I came up with it because I too miss some of my Korean faves. 🙂 And thank you for your very kind words about my photography! And the pottery is by Aron over at Facture Goods! He’s amazing.
Thank you so much for sharing! It worked beautifully even though I used gochujang in place of gochugaru (I slightly decreased the amount of soy sauce to account for the added paste and found that the texture was perfectly fine).
Elise, that is BRILLIANT!! I will pass that tip along to anyone who asks for a sub for gochugaru. Thank you!!!!
Thanks for this comment!! I read the recipe ingredient as gochujang so appreciate this more than you know.