Korean cuisine uses a range of tofu, from silken, or soft tofu to medium-firm to firm.
You can usually find a few different kinds of tofu at a grocery store. The tofu above is a medium soft tofu used for stew, and I use it in my doenjang-jjigae and kimchi-jjigae videos. There are 3 white Korean letters in the blue circle on the package: “찌개용” which mean: “for stew.”
Store well-wrapped tofu in the fridge until it’s expiration date. If you use only part of the package, submerge the rest of the tofu in cold water, cover, and keep it in the fridge. You should finish it within a few days.
Hello Maangchi,
In your book you say to, ‘store well-wrapped tofu in the refrigerator until it’s expiration date.’ What do you mean when you say well-wrapped?
Also, you say, ‘if you only use half the package, submerge the remaining half in cold water, cover, and store in the refrigerator.’
Is there a way that you would recommend doing this? Would you put the tofu in a plastic storage container, fill it with water put the tofu inside and then put the lid on top?
You also say, It should be eaten within a few days.’ Are you saying that tofu that has been taken out of it’s package and restored should be eaten within a few days? Can tofu that has not been taken out of it’s packaging last longer depending on the expiration date?
Also, when registering for an account on your website the process seemed weird. The registration process asks for a password. The password that a person gives is not the same password that the website gives you in your email. I wouldn’t have even have checked my email for the password because I have a password book but, I was worried that I had written the password wrong in my password book.
Hello Cbiz,
When you buy tofu, you can buy it in a package, well-wrapped, with an expiration date outside, like the photo at the top of this page. Once you open it, you have to eat it in a couple of days. But soak the leftover tofu in cold water. You can use the original tofu package, or you can keep it in a container, submerged in water, so it’s not exposed to the air. If tofu is exposed to the air, even in the fridge, it will turn sticky and brownish easily and go bad.
I show how to keep the leftover tofu in the fridge in my kimchi stew video, around the 9 minute mark, check it out: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-jjigae
Thanks for the info about my website registration, I will get my web developer to look into it!
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my question. Your response was quicker than I expected it would be! Your response was helpful.
Hello Maangchi,
I’ve seen a Korean recipe listing 연두부, what kind of tofu is this?
Thanks! :)
Hii Maangchi
I have just bought fresh not canned tofu and i was woundering for how long i can keep it
the women at the restaurant told me that it was just made and that i have to keep it in water
so where can i keep it and for how many days it will remain eatable
Thanks in advance :)
“the women at the restaurant told me that it was just made and that i have to keep it in water” Yes, that’s what I do! It will be ok up to 3 to 5 days in the fridge but the tofu shouldn’t be exposed to air.
Do you use firm or soft tofu for Mandu?
I use medium soft tofu.
Hi Maangchi,
I love Korean food and have eaten uncooked dubu with a delicious sauce on top. It had several ingredients including sesame seeds, chili peppers chopped and soy sauce.
I would love to make this. Do you have a recipe?
I posted the recipe for the sauce in my “grilled beef” recipe
I’m copying and pasting the part from the recipe for you.
Yangnyumjang recipe:
Mix 2 tbs of soy sauce, 1 tbs of hot pepper flakes, ½ tbs of sugar, 1 tbs of sesame seeds, and 1 tbs of sesame oil.
and add 1 -2 chopped green onions to the sauce and mix it up with a spoon.
Enjoy with raw tofu! : )
yum tofu!!! i could eat it every day : )
Hi,Lucy,
I have never made my own dubu.
Dubu is very cheap, so I have never thought about making it.
Maybe later, : )
Hi, Maangchi,
Have you ever made your own dubu? A restaurant near me makes a wonderful appetizer of fresh tofu stacked with thinly sliced cucumbers, with a soy/sesame sauce. It is so fresh and wonderful, I’d love to learn to make my own tofu if it’s not too hard.
Thanks!
Lucy