Delicious teriyaki tofu ready in just 15 minutes! This authentic Japanese tofu recipe is sweet, savory and umami rich. No need for takeaway anymore. Make the best teriyaki dish ever at home.
Teriyaki Tofu
Teriyaki tofu is one of the most famous in Japanese cuisine outside the country. Mirin and soy sauce caramelisation is the basis for teriyaki, and it’s quite simply delicious! It has dazzled millions of people around the globe.
In this recipe, you’ll find how to make an authentic and umami rich Japanese tofu recipe at home. This tofu with teriyaki sauce is made with simple traditional Japanese ingredients and techniques! You will love this teriyaki tofu recipe!
Bring joy into your life and share it with loved ones. Read on!
Why You'll Love This Teriyaki Tofu
Being Japanese, I wanted to create some quick and easy Japanese dinner tofu recipes for you to add to your everyday cooking. Who doesn’t need some tofu variety with simple, rich and tasty options?
This teriyaki tofu is perfect for when you’re tired and lacking motivation to cook, but want something tasty to eat. We’ve all been there! This recipe has helped me so many times. Super quick to make and delicious!
For me, quick, easy and yummy tofu recipes makes your life better, and this tofu teriyaki is no different.
Once you master the basics of teriyaki, you can add in other ingredients. Customise it with a few additions here and there! So, read on for this Japanese style teriyaki tofu!
Ingredients for the best teriyaki tofu recipe
Tofu: Firm or super firm tofu is recommended for this stir fry teriyaki. It's easy to flip over and make all the sides of the diced tofu crispy.
Soy Sauce: This tofu is based on shoyu flavor. Using the right shoyu (soy sauce) is important! Lots of grocery stores have gluten free soy shoyu now, so just substitute if you need gluten free.
Mirin is what creates the teriyaki shine, richness and sweetness. Mirin is a type of rice wine and creates strong umami flavour. No sugar is added but it's naturally sweetened. Mirin can be used for various Japanese recipes.
Japanese Sake: Some experts for Japanese cooking may recommend using Japanese cooking rice wine , (ryori shu) for cooking with sake, but I use drinking sake. Japanese cooking wine can be expensive, especially outside Japan.
Sugar: Brown sugar is recommended for this recipe. I use unwashed cane sugar.
How to Make Teriyaki Tofu
I share some useful cooking techniques with you.
Preparation
The important step is to eliminate water from the firm tofu completely. You need to do this twice in preparation.
- Press a firm tofu for 15 minutes. I just place the tofu between two chopping boards and place a heavy book on top of it. If you do not have time, wrap it up with a kitchen paper and leave it in the 600W microwave for 1-2 minutes. Remove water by hand with kitchen paper.
- Cut tofu into 1 inch pieces. Place them into a flat plate and remove remaining water out of the surfaces of the tofu pieces with kitchen paper.
Add a small amount of sake, soy sauce and grated ginger to the tofu pieces and toss. Cover with wrapping film. Make sure the tofu and the film stick to each other. Set aside.
Teriyaki Sauce
Sake, mirin and soy sauce need to be combined using the same amount of each. Easy to remember huh? This is the golden formula of traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce!
These ingredients work together perfectly. The combination is one of the most powerful ways to create umami rich flavour.
Then how much sugar you add is up to you, but I use half the amount of each of the other ingredients. This teriyaki tofu marinated combination creates the umami flavor and balance we’re looking for.
Cooking
Coating tofu
Corn starch plays an important role in helping caramelise the umami flavor and thicken the sauce. Just before you start cooking, you can dust it onto diced tofu on the plate. Make sure you coat each tofu piece evenly.
Stir fry tofu
Once the tofu is placed on the skillet, do not flip too often. You want to avoid breaking the sides of tofu to help keep them crispy.
- Leave each sides for 1 minute to be cooked and then start flipping over with chopsticks or a spatula.
The tofu needs to be coated well with caramelized teriyaki sauce. The shiny teriyaki tofu looks so appetizing when you get this right! To get the caremelisation right:
- Wipe out excess oil from the skillet with kitchen paper when the tofu is cooked.
- Then pour in the teriyaki sauce.
The excess of oil makes it harder for the sauce to caremelise and stick to the tofu.
After you add the sauce, no need flip over the tofu pieces, but keep spooning the sauce from the skillet over the top of all of the tofu pieces while it’s cooking. This way you can avoid breaking the surface of the tofu. Once the sauce is reduced, and tofu gets shiny, it's ready!
Serve with sesame seeds and spring onion immediately. Enjoy!
Tips for the best tofu recipe with teriyaki sauce
How long can you keep teriyaki tofu?
Keep the teriyaki tofu for 2 days in the fridge, but it's best served as soon as it's cooked. I add teriyaki tofu into a bento box – so good the next day for lunch! It's tasty cold as well.
You can make extra teriyaki sauce and keep it for at least two weeks in the fridge. You can fry, sauté, grill or bake vegetables with it. Or add garlic, ginger or onion powder if you would like to change the falvour.
The ideas of teriyaki tofu variations
Garlic teriyaki sauce
Garlic and ginger do not come with teriyaki sauce in Japan. But I've noticed that in the US and Australia, adding them seem to be pretty common. While you stir fry tofu, just add garlic, ginger or onion and blend with teriyaki sauce.
Teriyaki tofu bowl
Cut your favourite vegetables and throw them into teriyaki sauce leftover in the frying pan after making teriyaki tofu. It can be sliced carrot, beans, sprout, spinach or whatever you fancy. Place them with teriyaki tofu on rice in a bowl. It's fresh, delicious and filling!
Baked teriyaki tofu
Carefully coat diced tofu with corn starch and bake them in the oven. It takes time until the tofu is cooked, but while the oven looks after them, you can make one more extra dish.
Teriyaki tofu and broccoli
Crunchy broccoli matches well with crispy tofu and teriyaki sauce. Fry broccoli first and add tofu. Once they are both cooked, pour teriyaki sauce over them. You will enjoy the gorgeous smell of soy sauce and sake.
MIKLIA Tofu Recipes
Tofu Nuggets
Tofu Bacon
Orange Tofu
Teriyaki Tofu
Ingredients
Preparation
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce (see note)
- ½ teaspoon sake
- 1 teaspoon grained ginger
Sauce
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon mirin
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon sake
Cooking
- 3 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 tablespoon oil
Topping
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onions (optional)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
Preparation
- Press firm tofu for 10 minutes by placing between two chopping boards and placing a heavy book or pan on top to get rid of water. Or wrap it up with kitchen paper and put it into the microwave with 600W for one to two minutes. Remove water from the tofu completely with kitchen paper.
- Cut the tofu into one inch square pieces. Place them on a flat plate. Use a kitchen paper and get rid of water completely from the surface.
- Add soy sauce, ginger and Japanese sake. Mix them up by hand or a spatula roughly. Cover them up with a wrapping film on top, like a duvet cover. Set aside.
Sauce
- While the tofu is cooking, make the sauce. Combine soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar with a spoon.
Cooking
- Preheat a skillet or a frying pan with middle heat.
- Coat each of the tofu pieces evenly with cornstarch.
- As soon as the tofu is coated, add oil and transfer them into a heated skillet. Cook them without touching for 1 minute.Then turn tofu with a spatula. Keep cooking until all sides get crispy and coloured golden brown.
- Remove excessive oil from the skillet with kitchen paper. Add teriyaki sauce into the pan. No need to touch tofu as it's fragile. Instead use a spoon and scoop up the sauce from the edge of the skillet and place it onto the tofu. Repeat this and shake the pan occasionally until the sauce is reduced and gets thicker. Serve with sesame seeds and spring onion immediately!
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