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
- half package of tofu (about 7 oz: 200 grams)
- soy sauce
- Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
- sugar
- green onion
- garlic
- toasted sesame oil
- roasted sesame seeds
Directions
- Slice the tofu into 10 bite size pieces (¼ inch thick rectangles). Towel off each piece with a paper towel.
A whole package of tofu cut into 20 pieces
- Heat a pan and add 1 to 2 tbs of vegetable oil.
- 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.
- Turn over each piece and cook another 5 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked tofu to a serving plate.
- 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
- Spoon the sauce evenly over the tofu, and sprinkle some roasted sesame seeds over top just before serving.
- Serve as a side dish with rice.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
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 that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
![[OTTOGI] Premium Roasted Sesam...](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DixbNS9AL._SL160_.jpg)
The tofu when it is just out of the pan, all golden tastes GREAT! it reminds me of eating flat bread of some sort!
BUT the sauce, especially adding the soy sauce tastes awful and smells awful…i am from Pakistan and am used to Indian or Mediterranean food….so soy sauce i would recommend to those who r well used to east Asian food.
Sorry but soy sauce doesn’t smell really! Maybe you had a very old bottle…
Some would say Indian food taste or smells awful also but I really like it myself.
Though… I would not say that it smells awful even if it did.
That’s culturally offensive.
I’m from India , I apologise to people in the world who use soy sauce as their cultural food item in their native cooking.it neither smells awful nor taste awful it’s like more taste enhancer.if someone is allergic to soy sauce for those particular people it is a advice to avoid it. And if some person dislikes only a particular soy sauce comments only abt the soy sauce and mentions it awful. Enlighten such people not to watch videos of other delicious food of world and please don’t be mean in abusing entire cuisine of Indians or Pakistanis or Mediterranean. Thanks and cool… bon appetit!!
Made this yesterday. It was so good! Even my three year old asked for, “fofu and pie-cy sos pwease!” today! Love, love your blog!
Maangchi, you are now the only site I go to for Korean recipes. SO YUMMY every time!
I just want to share a delicious variation I stumbled across tonight with this recipe. I was out of green onion, so I minced up about 2tbs of kimchi instead, and it was even better.
Kimchi always goes well with tofu. yum!
It looks great Maangchi! I usually don’t eat tofu but this dish is really delicious.
I tried to cook it as well, adding a bit of mint:
http://www.kimchiandbasil.com/stir-fried-tofu-with-spicy-sauce/
Is it possible to skip the hot pepper? Thank you, Merci :)
yes, without hot pepper flakes, the sauce will still turn out delicious. Add lots of green onion, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Yum!
Maangchi,
I made it like you said they did in Toronto…with maple syrup. It was soooo delicious! I love how it’s crispy and chewy and the 양념장 is so tasty. I should have made a double batch! And I can’t believe how easy this was to make!
감사합니다!
Dave
I saw the photo of your tofu side that you uploaded this morning. It looks great! The photo will be featured soon. yum!
Maangchi,
I made this and mandu for my family today. They loved it…and my wife & sister-in-law raved about the 양념장! They *told* me to print out the recipe! ^^ We put it on both the tofu and mandu.
감사합니다!
Dave
Ooooo! This is so spot on and yummy! I love your recipes!
im going to make this for tomorrow s bento :D
im living in Tokyo now,
it s relatively easy to get essetial Korean ingredients here :)
stumble upon your website, and im loving it!
Hi Maangchi!
I’m in Korea at the moment for a year to study, so I’m excited to try out all these recipes – not many Korean food stores in Scotland, if there are any at all!
Does it matter what kind of package tofu you use? There are so many different kinds! I tried it with 찌개 두부 and it tasted good but felt like it was going to fall a part in my hands. As for the sauce, I just bought a bottle of sauce that had 양념장 on it and it tasted okay (student’s budget and not really knowing the Korean names for some of the ingredients).
Thanks for all your great recipes! 한국 요리를 잘하고 싶어요!
I usually like medium firm tofu and use in every dish I make except for soft tofu. Soft tofu is used to make soondubu jjiage. Homemade yangnyeomjang is much tastier than store bought yangnyeomjang. Try out the recipe, please.
Yangnyeomjang (Seasoning sauce)
I love the pan-fried tofu with spicy sauce (made it last night). So much so that I made my own, Thai-style version (I live in Thailand)…with a sauce of lemongrass, bird’s eye chilies, garlic, ginger, lime juice, etc. Here’s the recipe: http://www.mistress-of-spices.com/2013/01/pan-fried-tofu-with-tangy-thai-sauce.html.
Thanks for the inspiration, Maangchi!
oh my goodness this was really really yummy! I made the 두부 간장조림 and swapped out the corn syrup for plain white sugar because I don’t have any corn syrup (I used just under a tbsp, mixed it in a small bowl with the soy sauce and and garlic and let it sit while the tofu cooked). the tofu smelled really garlic-y after I was done but the sugar really helps to tone that down, so if you’re put off by the smell too don’t worry! this is really great and I’ll definitely be making it again very soon! 감사합니다 망치! <3
i see you use tofu out a package, i like fresh ones=3
I made Dubu buchim yangnyumjang a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I love it so much. I make it probably once or twice a week now, and I can’t get enough of it. I always thought that tofu could never be made to taste good, but your recipes have turned me into a tofu fan!
I did the recipe today and love its simplicity!! Yum, yum!! I only used 1/4 of tsp of the hot pepper flakes just in case. I added way too much red pepper flakes (American) to my Emergency Kimchi and I can’t barely eat it. So I didn’t want this sauce to be too spicy. Thank you for sharing.
Maangchi, how long can you keep the Tofu in your lunchbox without put it into your Refrigerator in the winter?
It will be ok for several hours.
I had this for lunch today , so delicious , i think this sauce will be good too for deep fried whole fish ! Not only i had the hot pepper flakes i added chopped bird eye chilis too ..thanks maangchi !
yes, the sauce could be used fro deep fried whole fish or roasted fish. Good job! : )
The spicy sauce is so good. The flavours really went well. I like to marinate the sauce without the green onions overnight so that the garlic is not so spicy. I used it on steamed tofu and it was amazing even when I was out of green onions. I also added abit more sesame oil so I have more sauce without it being diluted or overly salty. It’s so pretty when you line up the tofu pieces with that sauce all over. :D
I’m glad to hear that you like the sauce recipe!
Hey MaAngchi,
I love to cook korean food using your recipe.
However, everytime I cook, I have to reduce about half of your original recipe for hot pepper flakes.
I found out it’s very very salty if I follow your recipe.
Since you’ve been to Indonesia few months ago, I’m just wondering, does the hot pepper flakes in Indonesia much salty compare to any other hot pepper flakes at another country?
Thank you.
Sorry Maangchi, I typed wrong. I mean, to be Hot Pepper Paste, instead of Hot Pepper Flakes.
I feel that the Hot Pepper Paste is very very salty, therefore every time I cook using your recipe, I have to reduce the hot pepper paste’s recipe.
Made Dubu buchim yangnyumjang last night and it was fantastic! What a delicious sauce. We had it with cabbage soup with soy bean paste and steamed black rice. So healthy and satisfying.
Yummy! It sounds like an awesome combination!
I made the Dubu buchim yangnyumjang, and it turned out fantastic! Had to double the amount of green onions, though, since my mother made a lot of tofu, haha. I also added a little bit more hot pepper flakes to make it even more spicy to suit my tastes (1 tsp is barely spicy enough for me, haha).
Fantastic news! You are one of spicy food lovers! ^^
Very nice recipe Maangchi – thank you so much!!! My fiance and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner (seaweed soup, with tofu-spicy-sauce on the side)
seaweed soup and tofu are all healthy and delicious food!
This recipe is amazing! I never liked tofu but with this recipe I love it and want to explore what other great dishes I can make with tofu. I make this at least once a week now. I made it for my friend and she loved it and said she will make it for her husband. Cheers!
I made this today and it was delicious! Thank you for the recipe! ^___^
Maangchi, You are using FIRM tofu right?
Firm or soft, pan-fried tofu with seasoning sauce is always delicious. Firm tofu works well because it won’t be broken easily while you are cooking. But I sometimes use soft tofu to make pan-fried tofu dish when I feel like enjoying softness of tofu.
I finally got a chance to make this delicious Pan fried tofu with spicy sauce
(Dubu buchim yangnyumjang) I had to substitute the green onions with wild chives. Turned out very good. Thank you
Sandra
Great! : )
Hi Maangchi,
Can you please make more tofu side dishes?
I really enjoy watching your videos.
Thank you! (:
I made the dubu ganjang jorim – yums the second time!
http://theunoriginalchef.blogspot.com/2011/01/dubu-ganjang-jorim-korean-tofu-side.html
Looks SO good ! Making this for sure.. :) I love tofu, esp soon dubu and stinky tofu LOL
Thanks for this recipe.
stinky tofu? : )Whenever the topic is stinky food, I’m the most interested of all
Yum! I prefer to eat tofu rather than meat (but the rest of the family likes meat!)
I’ve made Dubu buchim yangnyumjang several times and love it. Never tried Dubu ganjang jorim (with the corn syrup) Maybe I’ll make it tonight to serve with the galbi!
I made both tonight. They were delicious! (dubu buchim yangnyumjang is my favorite!
I blogged about it of course you should check out the pictures!
http://ikkin-bot.blogspot.com/2010/11/panfried-tofu-dubu-buchim-yangnyumjang.html
My mom and I made something Dubu buchim yangnyumjang and it was sooooo yummy! Actually I did not know there was a dish like this we just figured it might be good to eat dubu with a sauce made of hot pepper paste, spring onions, garlic, sesame oil and sugar. I didn’t have hot pepper flakes so I used a little bit of hot pepper paste instead but I imagine it was just as good.
♥ Miren
“..so I used a little bit of hot pepper paste” Great, Miren!
Today I made “Dubu ganjang jorim” at lunch. But I used 1 tbs of honey rather than corn syrup! I think maybe honey is more healthy? The taste was perfect and I enjoyed this recipe very much! Thank you (once again) Maangchi!
awesome! You can always modify the recipe to your taste!
God bless those glass lock containers. They are so useful and fulfill my glassware fetish.
haha, glassware fetish!
Maangchi!
I cannot express how EXCITED I am that I found this recipe! Everytime I go to a Korean restuarant I gobble this up and ask for seconds! I don’t know why but every time I tried to make this at home it would never turn out right! And now I found this and I am so happy!
‘chong mall cam sam ni da’ 정말 감사합니다
great! It’s very easy, isn’t it? Happy cooking!!
You Korean food are so attractive.
You also make the food in a very simple way, that we can follow.
You make me want to try out also.
Keep on.
Christina
Thanks Christina!