Korean Banchan: Pan-fried Tofu

Here's another Korean banchan that I think you'll enjoy.  It's simple to make, and it's one of those dishes that adds so much flavor to the tofu that your brain forgets all the negative stereotypes that tofu gets from the haters.  Don't be a hater.

This simple dish basically consists of two things: pan-fried tofu and a seasoned soy sauce.  You put them together and that's the whole banchan.  Simple.

Ingredients:
-1 block of medium to firm tofu
-1/4 cup soy sauce
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-1 tsp hot pepper powder (flakes are okay, but if you can find powder, that's better)
-2 tbsp chopped green onions

1.  Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, hot pepper powder, and green onions together in a small dish.  Set aside.

2.  Open and drain the package of tofu, then slice into 1/2" thick rectangles.

3.  Heat a frying pan on medium, and drizzle some vegetable oil.  Once oil is hot, add the tofu slices into the pan without allowing them to overlap.  You'll have to do this in shifts, as most frying pans aren't big enough to hold all the slices.

4.  After cooking on one side for about 5 minutes, flip it over carefully and cook the other side for another 5 minutes.

Yum!

5.  Remove from heat and make a layer of fried tofu in a dish, preferably one that has high-ish walls. 

Over that layer, spoon some of your soy sauce mix on top. 

Add another layer of tofu and spoon more soy sauce on it.  Repeat this process until all layers of tofu have sauce between them.

That's it!  It's basically just pan-fried tofu with a yummy soy sauce "marinade" in between each layer, but it's so good!  As it sits, the soy sauce kinda starts to absorb into the tofu and makes it taste better.

Try this sometime, it goes great with rice and other banchan.  And it's one of the few Korean banchans that aren't spicy :)  Enjoy!

For a printable version of this recipe, please click here.