Pan-fried tofu with savory sauce
I grew up eating tofu that is full of flavor, dressed with deliciousness. When I went to college, I was horrified to see cold tofu cubes sitting in the salad bar in our dining hall. I tried it — it was pasty, hard, completely flavorless and it added nothing to my salad except I suppose some tasteless protein.
If you ate tofu this way, no hate, no judgment — I promise. But what I want to tell you is that tofu is so much more than this!!
Typically, East Asian cuisines serve tofu as the star of the dish — it would never settle to be a substitute of anything else! — and is always served with robust sauces, flavorful dips, umami-filled broths.
This recipe - pan fried and with a savory soy sauce - is a Korean preparation (if other cuisines cook it this way, please let me know!).
Shopping for tofu
Tofu typically comes in three different firmnesses: firm, soft, silken. You would choose your tofu firmness depending on what you’re making. For pan-fried tofu, firm is the easiest to handle and is less likely to fall apart as you dredge it and handle it on the pan. Soft tofu is also lovely here, but will need to be handled with more care.
At many mainstream grocery stores, tofu comes without any indication of firmness, and is most likely of the firm/medium-firm variety. Shop at an Asian grocery store, and you will find an entire half-aisle dedicated to different brands and textures of tofu. Amazing.
Pan-fried tofu with dipping sauce
Ingredients
For tofu
1 lb. firm tofu
4 TBS cornstarch or flour
Neutral oil for frying
For dipping sauce
2 TBS soy sauce or tamari
2 TBS water
1/2 tsp white or rice vinegar
Greens of 2 scallions, thinly chopped
1/2 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions:
Prepare your tofu: Line a cutting board with two layers of paper towels. Open the package and drain water out from package. Place tofu onto paper towel-lined cutting board. Slice tofu block into rectangles about 1 cm thick. Allow paper towels to continue drawing out water from tofu so that the tofu will properly brown on the pan. This step can be done up to a few hours in advance if you move the tofu slices into an airtight container lined with paper towels and refrigerate.
Prepare your dipping sauce: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce/tamari, water, vinegar, scallions (and sesame seeds and gochugaru, if using). Set aside.
Place cornstarch or flour onto a dinner plate. Heat a nonstick pan with 3 TBS oil on medium heat.
When oil is shimmering, dredge one tofu slice at a time on both sides, shaking off any excess back onto the plate. Carefully place each dredged tofu slice onto the pan. Don’t overcrowd the pan, working in multiple batches if necessary.
Cook tofu slices on first side undisturbed until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add oil as needed. When brown, flip to the other side and cook until brown.
Place finished tofu slices onto a plate. The dipping sauce can be spooned over the tofu or can be used as a dipping sauce.
Serve hot, with rice.
Contains: soy
