Tofu

Classic Korean Tofu – First Banchan

November 12, 2019 by Dan-yul Leave a Comment

Classic Korean Tofu. It’s the first banchan I learned how to make! And I still make it till this day. Slices of fresh tofu are pan-fried to a slight crisp and topped with a dollop of soy-sauce marinade. Set it on the table, alongside a few other banchan and a bowl of fresh rice. And it’s simply perfect. If you’ve been looking for simple, healthy and delicious banchan, this is one of them!

When it comes to tofu, I highly recommend buying a Korean brand (we like the brand Pulmuone). The tofu is soft and tender and the ingredients are high-grade. I’ve tried American-style tofu before and could understand why many Westerners say it taste like “rubber”…

Cooking notes:

For this recipe, purchase “Firm” tofu. There should be a colored label that indicates the firmness.
Make sure to pat-down the surface of the tofu. This way it gets a crispy-surface.
Don’t over-salt the tofu pieces – we will dab-on our soy-sauce marinade at the end (so just a few sprinkles in the beginning)
Make sure to cook some rice on the side – this banchan will taste salty on its own.
The sauce will be enough for up to 600 grams of tofu (4 person serving). Save the leftovers or cook alot at once!

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Classic Korean Tofu

Ingredients

1 Block of Tofu (400-600 grams)
Few pinches Salt
Few pinches Black Pepper

Soy Sauce Marinade

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Gochugaru
2 Tablespoons Chopped Green Onion Spring Onion
1/2 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds
1/2 Tablespoon Sesame Oil

Instructions

Prep Tofu

Carefully remove the tofu block out of the package and drain out the water. Cut the tofu into small rectangular pieces (each about the width of your pinky finger). Then use a few paper towels and gently pat down the surface of the tofu (don't press too hard - you'll break them). Flip them over and pat-down the other side as well. This will create a dry surface - so you can get a crispy surface when frying.
Season both sides with a few shakes of salt and black pepper - don't add too much!

Make Sauce Marinade

Take out a bowl and thoroughly mix: Soy Sauce (2 Tablespoons), Gochugaru (1/2 Tablespoon), Chopped Green Onion (2 Tablespoons), Sesame Seeds (1/2 Tablespoon) and Sesame Oil (1/2 Tablespoon).
Place frying pan on a medium heat. Place some oil in. Once the pan is hot, place the tofu pieces in. Let it cook on one side for 4-5 minutes. Then flip each over. Now place a small dollop of the marinade on each piece. Let it cook for a final 3-4 minutes (or until the bottom side is slightly crispy too).
Plate and serve with a bowl of hot rice! Enjoy life 🙂

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Dinner Banchans 5: Beef-Asparagus Stir-fry, Sweet Crispy Tofu

October 19, 2018 by Dan-yul Leave a Comment

Dinner Banchans 5. Tonight’s menu is Beef Asparagus Stir-fry, Sweet Crispy Tofu, and Yangnyeom Gejang. I will show you how to make the first two from scratch. The last one is store-bought – also a recipe we’re working on at the moment. But I still want to introduce you to it in case you come across it at a Korean grocery mart. Well, you must be hungry! Let’s get live 🕺

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Beef Asparagus Stir-fry.

Asparagus. I like it grilled – you know, next to a nicely-grilled steak. But lately, I’ve been throwing it into stir-fries. And now, it’s become my go-to veggie for stir-fries. In this beef asparagus stir-fry, the key flavor variable is corn starch. By coating the beef with corn starch, it thicken the sauce into a glaze. The consistency is perfect – a good companion to spread over rice 🙂

Crispy-Sticky Tofu.

This is a no-brainer dish for tofu newbies. Rolling the tofu pieces in starch powder provides an extra crispy skin. Then comes the sauce. Yes, it’s the same sauce we use in marinated Korean-fried chicken. Salty, slightly-sweet and tangy. Once anything is covered in this sauce, its game over! This dish is a hit 🙃

Few cooking notes:

Microwave the tofu pieces first to get alot of the water out. Then pat it down with paper towels to soak up any leftover moisture on the surface. This is important to prevent oil from splattering everywhere when frying.
When reducing the soy-sauce glaze, make sure not to burn the soy sauce. When the sauce comes to a boil, reduce your heat to a medium heat and let it gently simmer for 2 minutes. At this point, the sauce may still look watery – but place the tofu pieces in then. Toss them around for 30 seconds and it will turn sticky.

Yangnyeom Gejang:

What is Yangnyeom Gejang? It’s fresh raw flower crabs that are pickled in a spicy gochujang-based paste. (There’s also a non-spicy, soy-sauce version called ganjang gejang). Both of them are very special banchans in Korea. Expensive but coveted, and usually seen only during the fall. We saw some fresh ones in our nearby mart for sale, and couldn’t resist.

So how do you eat it? You crunch down on the soft shell and suck out the raw meat. It tastes similar to raw shrimp sashimi. A slightly sweet taste, mostly eaten for the texture rather than the flavor. The majority of the flavor actually comes from the marinade. As mentioned, we’ve never made this banchan at home before. It’s our homework for this year 🙂

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