Korean Pan Fried Tofu | 두부 부침
Pronounced: Du-Bu Bu-Cheem
What: Korean PanFried Tofu taught by my lovely Mom!
Taste: Slices of tofu pan fried to create a crispy outer layer with a soft, delicate texture inside. Serve with the perfect-ratio soy sauce dip. One of the easiest banchans (side dishes) to make and served often to compliment any meal. It’s healthy, affordable, and easy to make.
How It’s Made: Simple— no measurements needed for the tofu. Just slice it, salt it, pan fry it, and serve with soy sauce dip. Soy Sauce dip requires measurements, but super simple.
What to Serve it With: My Mom served this with Ox Bone Soup that had rice in it along with her Baby Bok Choy Spicy Salad (another banchan). This pairs very well with some sort of carb source like rice that will even out the saltiness of it since we dip it into soy sauce.
Korean Pan Fried Tofu
Ingredients:
- Oil
- Firm tofu*
- Salt
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- ½ Tbsp apple vinegar or white vinegar*
Instructions:
How to cook Korean Pan Fried Tofu
- Slice desired amount of tofu into squares. Pat-dry the sliced tofu with paper towel. Sprinkle a light amount of salt on one side of the tofu (the soy sauce dip is salty so do not salt too much here!). Set aside to drain excess water out of tofu.
- Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium heat with oil. Once the oil is warm, add in tofu, salted side facing down. Sprinkle salt on tofu (other side that was not salted).
- No need to move around the tofu. Let it crisp up, until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Flip and let other side crisp up, until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Meanwhile, make soy sauce dip.
- Once both sides are crisp, plate tofu and serve immediately with soy sauce dip.
- Mix soy sauce with vinegar.
Notes:
STEPS WITH PICTURES
Slice desired amount of firm tofu into squares. Pat-dry with paper towel.
Sprinkle a light amount of salt on one side of the tofu (the soy sauce dip is salty so do not salt too much here!).
Set aside to drain excess water out of tofu.
Meanwhile, heat large skillet over medium heat with oil. Once the oil is warm, add in tofu, salted side facing down.
Sprinkle salt on tofu (other side that was not salted).
No need to move around the tofu. Let it crisp up, until golden, about 3-5 minutes.
Flip and let other side crisp up, until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Meanwhile, make soy sauce dip.
Soy Sauce Dip:
Simply mix 1 Tbsp soy sauce with ½ Tbsp white vinegar (or apple vinegar).
Any white vinegar will do. We often use apple vinegar from the Korean market (NOT Apple Cider Vinegar). They all taste the same in the end.
If you do not like vinegar, you can use lemon juice instead.
Once both sides are crisp, plate tofu and serve immediately with soy sauce dip and your main meal (rice is good with this dish!).
Last tip: You will most likely have left over tofu. Again, as a family of 4, we often don’t use the entire block. To store away left over tofu: Place tofu in an air tight container and make sure it's submerged completely in water. Refrigerate and use soon.
And that’s it! Super simple, right? It’s so easy to make, yet so good. The texture of the tofu and soy sauce dip really pairs well with main meals that contain rice.
Eat Well,
Sarah