Hi, everybody!
I’m introducing 2 kinds of Korean tofu side dishes to you today! (the other dish in the video is Dubu-ganjangjorim).

When I lived in Canada, I often went to a farmer’s market on the weekend. It was in a big building, and in the basement there was a store where people were lining up every weekend up to buy some special tofu.

My friend was a regular customer at the store, so she let me taste it when she bought it. I was very surprised! Firstly, because it was so expensive, and secondly because it was a very simple tofu recipe. They were selling the tofu cubed and cooked with sauce for $7.99! The sauce was made with soy sauce and sugar or maple syrup.

It seemed like a very easy recipe to make. I took my friend to a Korean store and bought a package of tofu for 99 cents. We came home and we cooked it together. She was very happy and since that time, she has been doing all kinds of experiments with her favorite tofu side dish. She invents her own sauce these days. : )

Tofu is pronounced as “doo boo” in Korean. If you say doo boo in front of Koreans, they will be impressed!

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Slice the tofu into 10 bite size pieces (¼ inch thick rectangles). Towel off each piece with a paper towel.tofutofu

    A whole package of tofu cut into 20 pieces

  2. Heat a pan and add 1 to 2 tbs of vegetable oil.
  3. Add the tofu and lower the heat. Cook over low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes until the bottoms of the tofu pieces turn golden brown.
    whitetofu
  4. Turn over each piece and cook another 5 minutes.
    pan-fried tofu
  5. Transfer the cooked tofu to a serving plate.
  6. Make yangnyeomjang (seasoning sauce) in a small bowl by mixing these ingredients:
    • 1 clove of minced garlic
    • 1 chopped green onion
    • 1 ts hot pepper flakes
    • 1 ts sugar (or honey)
    • 1 tbs soy sauce
    • 1 ts toasted sesame oil

    If you make this with a whole package of tofu, double the sauce ingredients

  7. Spoon the sauce evenly over the tofu, and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds over top just before serving.
  8. Serve as a side dish with rice.Korean tofu side dish

Posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009. Last updated on January 10, 2023.
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It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon for that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.

148 Comments:

  1. cosimaluise Germany joined 3/19 & has 6 comments
    Posted May 27th, 2020 at 11:00 am | or create a profile.

    This tasted amazing!! My family is having a bbq today and since I‘m vegan I needed a substitute for meat and this was perfect. Me and my mom loved it! And it was so easy too. Thank you for this recipe :)


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  2. CrystalS USA joined 11/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 27th, 2017 at 9:19 pm | or create a profile.

    So good! Served with kimchi and rice.


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  3. Jhoy_melendrez14 philippines joined 10/17 & has 10 comments
    Posted November 13th, 2017 at 2:37 am | or create a profile.

    hi maangchi this is my masterpiece..hehehe


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  4. O, Joo-Hwan Las Vegas, Nevada USA joined 2/17 & has 10 comments
    Posted March 13th, 2017 at 3:35 am | or create a profile.

    Served this with baechu doenjang and rice. A bit too spicy for one of my family, but she just mixed the tofu into the stew and all was well. A big hit. I don’t eat tofu and I had seconds.


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  5. John in Baton Rouge Baton Rouge Louisiana joined 12/16 & has 40 comments
    Posted December 21st, 2016 at 8:57 pm | or create a profile.

    Who would have ever thought tofu could be so delicious? Yum… nice and crispy on the outside. And that awesome sauce with the delicious Korean flavors. I love to substitute honey in place of sugar. It’s funny, I find that if I take your recommended pepper flake quantity and use 1/3 of that, it’s perfect for me! And I’m from south Louisiana where we love spicy cajun food. Korean’s are so funny to tolerate so much heat lol. For anyone using pepper flakes, i recommend starting out with 1/4 or 1/3 of the recommended quantity and go from there. You can always add more but you sure as heck can’t take away once you’ve added it :-) Thank you for introducing me to a whole new world Maangchi… I am loving the Korean food! I eat it daily! All because I happened to find you on YouTube one day…

  6. elphyra Netherlands joined 7/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted July 24th, 2016 at 4:58 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi,

    I was wondering what the word buchim literally means. I have been searching the internet but it says something different on every website I find. Since you are an expert I hope you can help me out, haha!
    I’ve been making a lot of your recipes lately, but I always also like to know the other details concerning the dish.

    Love from the Netherlands!

  7. HikariLynn Canada Saskatchewan joined 3/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted March 5th, 2016 at 1:35 am | or create a profile.

    This recipe is so delicious!! I made it for the first time yesterday and had to go to the grocery store today just to get more Tofu to make it again tonight! my family thinks i’m crazy for eating tofu but its so good! I do have a question though, If i made this to take for lunch the next day would i add the sauce when i put in in the container? or would i keep them separate until i’m going to eat them?


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  8. Anissa& has 7 comments
    Posted February 2nd, 2016 at 12:52 pm | or create a profile.

    I’ve made this dish few times already – I feel in love with it and make it at least once a week! Thank you so much for it, Maangchi-ssi!

  9. Pure-Lucid joined 6/15 & has 4 comments
    Posted June 25th, 2015 at 12:03 am | or create a profile.

    My friend showed me your website and I feel you have really improved my cooking!

    The food tastes so yummy and exactly like my favorites that I would get at a store or restaurant but I am so very happy that now I can make at home for a lot cheaper!

    Every weekend now, I cook many side dishes so I won’t have to spend much time on cooking during the work week.

    I’m very grateful to you Maangchi!!! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

    I have made your Roll-Pang, seasoned broccoli, spinach, radish kimchi, strawberry jam, Japchae, mungbean sprout and cucumber, mixed grain rice, cucumber kimchi and now tonight, I made your fried spicy tofu dish!!!

    I knew I loved this dish already so I made four times the sauce so I plan on using it on top of a fried egg over rice for breakfast soon.

    The next dish I want to learn from you is your cabbage and soybean paste stew!

    You are an excellent cook and very funny!

    :)

    I am a big fan of yours now! I wish I could give you a hug because your recipes make me so happy! I am Korean but adopted so my family doesn’t know how to cook Korean food and I have always wanted to learn it.

    I will buy your cookbook soon too!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments
      Posted June 26th, 2015 at 11:20 am | or create a profile.

      I’m happy to hear that your Korean cooking is going well!
      “Roll-Pang, seasoned broccoli, spinach, radish kimchi, strawberry jam, Japchae, mung bean sprout and cucumber, mixed grain rice, cucumber kimchi”
      Happy cooking!

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