Japanese Tofu Salad

  4.6 – 14 reviews  

Adding tofu to your diet is easy with this recipe for tofu salad. This recipe is definitely flexible; feel free to add whatever you desire. I add lime wedges as a garnish.

Prep Time: 35 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Additional Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  1. 1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained
  2. 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  3. 1 tablespoon mirin (sweetened rice wine)
  4. 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  5. 2 teaspoons sesame oil, or to taste
  6. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  7. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  8. 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  9. 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
  10. 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  11. ¼ cup chopped cilantro
  12. 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Place tofu between two plates. Place a heavy book on top and let sit until tofu has drained, about 1 hour, pouring out expelled liquid every 20 minutes.
  2. Whisk together soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl.
  3. Heat vegetable oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger; gently stir and cook until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir into soy sauce mixture.
  4. Cut pressed tofu into bite-sized pieces, then place into a bowl with tomato, onion, and cilantro. Pour in dressing and toss to coat. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Reviews

Matthew Ferrell
Great used air fryer for diced tofu 5 minutes and was perfect not too hard but soft inside no oil needed. Followed recipe and added a lil bit of chili garlic sauce to mixture.
Carolyn Graham
Simple and delicious! I followed the recipe without changing a thing. No need to brown the tofu, in fact, I suspect you may lose a little of the light, freshness of the recipe by doing that. Thanks for your recipe!
Paul Carter
I LOVED this recipe and so did my “meat and potato” husband. Basically used the recipe as a base and added mixed veggies such as peppers, red, yellow or/green, broccoli, shredded carrots, snap peas, fresh sliced basil, and put tomato at the end of stir so it doesn’t get mushy. In addition to the spices in the recipe, I used lemon pepper, little bit of chili powder or curry powder, white wine (to replace the mirin). I put this with rice and was a hit! I loved this so much that this is my first recipe post I am submitting!! This is was definitely added to my recipe box!
Steven Marquez
I enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, my husband voted it “not a repeat.” He discovered that he’s not crazy about tofu that is not crispy on the outside. We both really liked the dressing though.
Kristin Maldonado
delicious! i used green onion instead of red to my taste, and threw in some rough grated carrot. thought bean sprouts would’ve been good too, am planning on trying that next time. i did not find it to be even a bit too saucy; it all absorbed into the tofu — which i recommend freezing, i never have to press it afterwards and it has the best texture, even uncooked!
Jessica Flores
Loved it, with the decrease in the amount of sauce as others mentioned (used the same amount of the aromatics though). I used shallots, since I didn’t have red onion. Used fresh tofu from a local tofu shop, which is amazing. Thanks!
Anthony Martinez
My husband raved about this salad and I have to agree! It is very tasty and I have several ideas of things we could add to the salad for some variety. This will be a recipe that will be made often.
Heather Harris
I just made this for a potluck and everyone was asking for the recipe. I did brown the tofu in a little oil to firm it up. I also minced jalapeno and added it. Next time I may try some other veggies since, as other reviewers said, there’s extra sauce.
Michelle Dixon
I couldn’t imagine raw, albeit pressed, tofu cubes, so I stir-fried them in a small amount of sesame oil. I also substituted a can of drained mandarin organ segments for the tomatoes. I added a bag of mixed greens and tossed it all together. Yum!
Heidi Silva MD
Excellent salad dressing. I also add some greens (spring mix works great) and leave out the red onion.
James Sanders
Oh man is this one ever good. So simple!!!! I always buy my tofu in water bins at an Asian market, so the tofu tastes smooth and creamy. I ate this whole recipe by myself for lunch. I will make again and again, and adding extra veggies is super easy. UPDATE: I made a big batch of this for my lunch. The next day the sauce made the tofu taste a little strong and bitter. It was still good, but just too strong. I would recomend eating it right away or mixing the salad together and throwing the sauce on when you eat it.
Bruce Solis
We use just shoyu and sesame oil for the dressing. I leave out the onion and cilantro, and add in some cucumber. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and, simple and delicious dinner that my kids love!
Deborah Nguyen
The sauce was absolutely delicious – I mixed it with greens so it was a nice salad and it was a good amount of sauce for that
Amber Hernandez
Nice taste, although rather saucy. I didn’t have the cilantro, so I used parsley flakes. I also baked the tofu pieces for 10 min ea on opposite sides of the tofu. This makes it less squishy and more the consistency of hard-fried eggs. (I originally didn’t like tofu due to the consistency.)

 

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