Silky soft tofu draped in a punchy soy dressing, creating a lively dish with little effort.
Silken Tofu With Spicy Soy Dressing
Make it your own with other fresh herbs or add crunch with fried shallots or roasted peanuts. This recipe is inspired by the many cold silken tofu dishes from East Asia, like Japanese hiyayakko and Chinese liangban tofu. This no- cook dish is a handy one to have up your sleeve, especially for warm evenings when the desire to cook is nonexistent.
Ingredients
For the Spicy Soy Dressing:
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp chile oil
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 scallion, green and white parts, finely sliced
For the Tofu:
- 2 (14-ounce) blocks silken tofu, cold
- 1 scallion, green and white parts, thinly sliced
- Handful of cilantro leaves
Directions
- Make the dressing: Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, chile oil, sugar, sesame seeds and scallion in a small bowl. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
- Carefully drain the liquid from the package of tofu, and gently tip the block onto a kitchen towel. Pat with another clean kitchen towel, removing as much liquid as possible. Transfer the blocks to one large plate or two smaller plates, and spoon the soy dressing over the top until the tofu is completely covered. Top with scallions and cilantro leaves, and eat on its own or with rice or noodles on the side.
- A favorite. Uncut, cut into blocks, cut into cubes, cut into strips, lightly crushed, cut into stars with a small cookie cutter, scooped into balls with a melon baller. If you want it spicier, add more chili oil, but if you want it less spicy, add less chili oil, or even no chili oil at all, and it still works! If you like cilantro, add cilantro, or if you don’t like cilantro, don’t add cilantro, and still, it works. It is… a block of tofu, with stuff on it!
- The picture shows small blocks of tofu yet step 2 says nothing about cutting the tofu into smaller pieces. It’s easy to infer that step, but we usually get more accurate preparation descriptions.
- A more Cantonese preparation would be to water down the soy sauce (same amount water as soy, or less). Makes the a lot more “drinkable”, so that you don’t accidentally get too much salt in one bite.
- Actually, the dish would be just as tasty and presentable with a solid block of tofu. You’d get the additional pleasure of being able to spoon bite-size pieces of tofu. Sometimes the best way to read these recipes is as a suggestion.