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Chilled Tofu With Gochujang Sauce
Published July 25, 2024
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- Total Time
- 10 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 5 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons gochujang
- 1tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 2teaspoons dark or light brown sugar
- 1garlic clove, finely grated
- Salt
- 1(14- to 16-ounce) block silken tofu, cold
- ¼cup thinly sliced scallions or chives
Preparation
- Step 1
In a small bowl, stir together the gochujang, vinegar, brown sugar and garlic until the sugar dissolves. Season to taste with salt.
- Step 2
Run a paring knife around the edge of the box of tofu and tip out as much water as you can, then flip the tofu onto a plate. (Alternatively, you can scoop out large chunks with a spoon.) Pour the sauce over the tofu, then shower with the scallions. Serve cold.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Alternatively, here's my own simple, non-heated prep for tofu—which is also good (but contains no gochujang): - Medium (non-silken) Tofu cut into approx 3/4" cubes. - Drizzle well w/Toasted Sesame Oil. - Add a grind of Sea Salt, - plus a very light dusting of Chipotle Powder. - Top w/finely cut Scallions. That's it... delish! (Optional additions: - A few drops of low-sodium Soy/Tamari Sauce (but I prefer without it). - Sprinkling of Toasted Sesame Seeds to finish. - Cilantro leaves on top.)
This is very good - wonderful flavor and interesting texture. I had this with white rice. The ease of preparation earns it five stars in my books.
Running out for some silken tofu RIGHT NOW - can't wait to try! Eric never disappoints.
Logistical question. I have trouble getting gochjang to melt in the vinegar, or any other liquid. Usually I resort to heating it then cooling, an extra step. Suggestions anyone?
As a 73 year old Korean American, I can’t remember not consuming this as the keystone to “saam” anytime during the year. Crisp chilled red leaf lettuce. Silken tofu. Gochujang, Japanese sushi-su, mirin, a little sugar, and a little toasted sesame oil. I add chopped scallions just before eating. In the fridge without the scallions (or garlic, if used), it keeps practically forever. The mix is used as a dip for vegetables . A drained can of tuna subs nicely for tofu for a change.
My addiction to Tofu makes this a perfect dish for a warm evening meal. What I love to do to change it up, just a little is serve it up with a 1/2 pound of ground chuck.. Spoon it next to the Tofu. Delish!!
A terrific recipe! Thanks Eric! When I lived in Shanghai - and it was crazy hot - we would have chilled tofu with a sweet soy dressing topped with chopped century eggs (creamy and funky), pork floss, cilantro, a little chopped raw garlic, and maybe some chopped preserved vegetables. You will see this dish on the menu of many Shanghainese restaurants. But cold tofu with any number of sharp/sweet/savory toppings makes for a lovely meal.
Use rice vinegar instead of distilled white. Also add lemon juice and honey!
In case folks want to go easy on the added sugar, try: - 2 Tbsp gochujang sauce - 1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar (I used the Marukan brand, available at my neighborhood Safeway & Lucky supermarkets) - 0 brown sugar Plenty sweet enough for my palate, and the Zing from Marukan's rice vinegar was just right. Thanks, Erik Kim! Another 5-star winner!
Delicious and easy and quick to prepare. Very unique ladies' lunch idea.
Just made this for the first time, excellent refreshing dish! I added fish sauce instead of salt and it’s perfect
I was about to buy a $25 salmon with gochujang sauce dinner kit for two when I realized I had all the ingredients at home. All I needed was a good gochujang sauce which brought me to this recipe. It was perfect. Followed recipe exactly as written and it was delicious with the salmon. Recommend highly.
I doubled the sauce, which was just right for a block of tofu. I used dark brown sugar and garlic granules (to keep it smooth) and added a dash of sesame oil. Very good. We had this two nights as a main course. First, we had cold tofu with room-temp sauce, per the recipe. Cold silken tofu must be an acquired taste. My reaction was "yuck." The second night, I gently warmed the sauce and tofu and put it all on a bed of hot brown rice. Delicious. I don't think I will make this again, though.
Fabulous!!!! Made exactly as is added dash of toasted sesame oil
This is really just so delicious and easy. I followed the recipe without changes, using dark brown sugar (it's really not so much). To the person who was wondering about how to get the gochujang to melt into the vinegar, miniwhisks are your friend. I love them for making small amounts of sauce like this. They're incredibly useful.
Just to clarify, is this sauce made with gochujang paste? I see both gochujang sauces and pastes being sold. Thanks.
Paste! The sauce is something entirely different.
This is a great dip sauce. I kept the sauce separate for future dipping.
I am obsessed with this recipe and have made it twice in the last week. I add soy sauce instead of salt for seasoning and swirled in a drizzle of sesame oil, too, as well as sprinkling some sesame seeds on top for crunch. Cool, spicy, flavorful, and easy enough to even make for lunch on my WFH days.
YUM! What a great summer lunch. Served mine over mixed greens with leftover rice. Since I was nowhere near my closest Asian market when I saw the recipe, I cheated and used a Gochujang sauce, Korean-made with many of the same ingredients in the recipe. It was a bit hot for me so I added the other ingredients in the sauce recipe to tone it down a notch. I added a drizzle of toasted sesame oil after seeing another comment and that was delicious, too. Will be making this often - thanks!
Made this with rice vinegar and white sugar I think brown sugar would be better Served cucumbers slices on the side to cut the heat, good plan, could also work served over lettuce
Made this tonight and is pretty good. One question not really answered by the recipe was if they used gochuchang sauce or paste - we used paste and slowly heated it up in the microwave until it was soft enough to mix. We also added fresh green onions and served it with stir fried vegetables.
Overpowered with raw garlic
I made this last night and it was outstanding. I did a side of ground beef (as suggested by another reader/commenter) mixed with similar Asian inspired seasoning, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, more scallion, a little hot pepper flakes, over a small portion of rice. We couldn't stop eating it... lol.
I love the spicy sesame tofu dressing but this is even better! Quite spicy so add sauce carefully. Served with brown rice and steamed kale with soy sauce. This was outstanding. Had it for two nights. Can’t wait for a 3rd night tomorrow!
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