This spicy gochujang tofu is a delicious Korean side dish or easy weeknight dinner served with steamed rice. The sweet and spicy gochujang sauce clings to the pan-fried tofu slices for a flavour-packed Korean braised tofu dish.
Servings4
Equipment
- Skillet – I use a well-seasoned 10.25-inch Lodge cast iron skillet, but a nonstick frying pan also works well.
Ingredients
- 18 ounces extra-firm tofu
- 1 tablespoon canola oil, or vegetable oil
Spicy gochujang sauce
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons regular soy sauce, or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon gochujang paste, or 1 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean chilli powder)
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup, or sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 green onions, finely sliced (reserve some for garnish)
To serve
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- reserved green onion
Instructions
- Take the tofu block between your hands and gently press out as much water as possible over the kitchen sink. Cut the tofu block into thick rectangular pieces – about ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Thoroughly pat it dry with a paper towel.
- Grab a small bowl and whisk together the gochujang sauce ingredients.
- Heat a large non-stick pan or seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat with a tablespoon of oil. Once very hot, gently add the dried tofu slices.
- Pan-fry the tofu until lightly golden brown on both sides, about four minutes per side.
- Line a plate with paper towels and transfer the golden tofu to the plate, allowing the paper to absorb the excess oil.
- Reduce the heat to medium and carefully wipe away the excess oil with a paper towel. Add the gochujang sauce mix to the pan and stir for a minute. Return the tofu to the pan with the sauce.
- Simmer for four minutes over medium heat. Gently flip the tofu pieces and simmer for another minute, spooning the sauce over the tofu rectangles.
- Sprinkle with the reserved green onion and sesame seeds.
Notes
- Use more oil to fry the tofu if your pan is not non-stick and carefully wipe out excess oil before adding the sauce ingredients.
- The sauce reduces until it coats the tofu in a beautiful glaze. You can double the sauce recipe if you want extra sauce to drizzle over your rice
- Gochujang and chilli flakes come in varying degrees of spiciness. I use medium-hot gochujang, and the one tablespoon makes the sauce plenty spicy. Adjust the sauce with extra chilli flakes or more gochujang paste according to your preferred spice level.
- Find more ingredient and substitute information.