The Back Yard Lemon Tree

I have a lot of braised tofu dishes on this site because, braised tofu is one of my standard dinners when I can’t think of what else to make. I go through various phases of which style of braised tofu I make but at the moment my go to tofu for a mid-week rice bowl dinner is this Korean braised tofu. Korean food and K Pop seems to taking over the world at the moment. When I was in India earlier this year, Korean inspired, fusion food was in all the cool cafes. This mainly meant gochugang paste and kimchee used in slightly strange manifestations. The kimchee in India was very expensive and only available from posh boutique supermarkets and grocers, so I really appreciated a more authentic Korean food & easy access to Korean ingredients when I returned to Australia.

Notes on Recipe -This recipe comes from Beyond Kimchee and is a fairly standard master recipe for this dish. They make a anchovy stock but I use a kombu dashi stock. I have seen recipes that use a bit of fish sauce in the stock but water also works well.

You will need a firm tofu to pan fry. Any packet of tofu firm between 400 to 500g (about 1 pound) works well. I usually buy the 900 grams tubs of tofu from the Asian grocers, use half, replace the water and have a second tofu dinner during the week. You can add vegetables of choice to the dish but I prefer to have my greens and other vegetables as separate entities. If I add any vegetables it is usually just some finely chopped red or green bell pepper. The fresh chilli is also optional so if your cupboard is very bare this makes a good pantry dinner.

Dubu Jorim makes excellent leftovers fare and it’s equally delicious served at room temperature so you can make it ahead of time. Below is a photo of my leftovers lunch the next day. I sauteed some garden greens and had some leftover Japanese Pumpkin in Soy Sauce. Not featured in the photo because we ate it all the night before was this Asian Smashed Cucumber Salad which makes an excellent side to this dish as does this Korean Mung Bean Salad.

Korean Braised Tofu

Adapted from Beyond Kimchee

• 400 to 500g (about 1 lb) firm tofu
• 1/2 cup kombu dashi stock or water
• 2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru)
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tspn sugar
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 green or red chilli sliced (optional)
• 1/2 a green or red bell pepper, chopped finely (optional)
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (optional)
• Finely sliced green onion (optional)

1. First make to the sauce. Mix together – Korean chilli flakes, garlic, sugar, sesame oil, black pepper with 1/2 cup of stock or water.
2. Slice tofu into 1cm (1/2 inch thickness) Pat each tofu piece firmly with paper towel to absorb excess moisture.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry tofu pieces for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden and crispy. Don’t flip the slices over before golden otherwise they will not be nice and crispy.
4. Place the chopped onion, fresh chilli and chopped bell peppers in pan. Pour sauce evenly over tofu. Bring to a boil, cover pan with a lid and simmer tofu gently on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes.
5. Serve garnished with toasted sesame seeds and green onion.