Dubu Ganjang Jorim - Korean Tofu Side Dish

Mr. Unoriginal Chef wanted to have tofu with our dinner, but thought fried tofu was a bit bland.  He knows I love Maangchi's website and actually pointed out this recipe as something he wanted for dinner.

I call myself his personal cook.  He points, I cook.  What a life.

Today's Korean lesson:
Dubu - tofu
Ganjang - soy sauce
Jorim - generic term for food cooked in soy sauce
Banchan - name for Korean side dishes

Featured on today's plate are brown rice and mandoo (dumplings) from Trader Joe's. 

Dubu Ganjang Jorim from Maangchi

Ingredients to serve two people:

• Half a block of tofu, drained, sliced into 8 pieces, and patted dry with paper towels. 
• One clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of corn syrup
• 1.5 tablespoons of soy sauce (more than Maangchi's recipe)
• Vegetable oil
• Optional:  Sesame seeds for serving.

Directions:
1.  Heat up a frying pan and spread about two tablespoons of oil in the pan.  Put the tofu in the pan and fry each side for five minutes over medium heat.

2.  In the meantime, mince one clove of garlic.  Combine the corn syrup and soy sauce in a bowl and set aside.

3.  Add the garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

4.  Give the corn syrup/soy sauce mixture a quick stir to recombine, and add to the pan.  Stir around to coat the pieces of tofu and flip to make sure both sides are covered.  Cook over medium-low heat until the soy sauce mixture mostly cooks off, although whatever is remaining is absolutely delicious over rice.

5.  Serve!  Sprinkle sesame seeds on top if using.

The first time we (who am I kidding, I) made this, the soy sauce didn't really permeate the tofu, so the overall effect was slightly bland tofu.  The second time I made this recipe, I upped the soy sauce by half a tablespoon, and I cooked it a bit longer to make sure the sauce got into the tofu.  I also drizzled a bit of the remaining sauce in the pan over the tofu for that extra kick.

Combine this tofu dish with my earlier potato dish and you now have two Korean side dishes you can serve!