Spicy Gochujang Sesame Tofu. Fried tofu in a sweet, spicy gochujang sauce with a hint of sesame. An easy and simple main or side dish ready in 30 minutes. If you love spicy food, you need to try this!
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What is Spicy Gochujang Tofu?
This Korean-inspired dish features pan-fried extra firm tofu simmered in a flavorful, sweet, spicy sauce with a hint of sesame. It's similar to Korean braised tofu but with a thicker sauce and my favorite way to enjoy tofu.
The best part about this gochujang tofu recipe is it's made with simple and minimal ingredients in little time! Making it a fantastic recipe for quick weeknight dinners if you're craving Korean cuisine.
The sweet, smoky, and spicy flavors of the delicious gochujang sauce compliment the extra crispy tofu so well as it's packed with umami flavor.
This bold-flavored tofu dish is best served with steamed rice along with veggies to make it a complete meal. You can also serve this as a main course or side dish with other Korean banchans (aka side dishes).
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: Your local Asian market will carry most of the below Asian ingredients.
- Extra-Firm Tofu: Avoid using other textures of tofu or they can easily break apart.
- Green onion
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils with a low smoke point.
Sauce
- Gochujang paste: a Korean red chili paste that comes in a red tub sold at many Korean grocery stores in the sauce aisle.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Gochugaru: aka Korean red chili flakes. Tip: these can be frozen in a Ziplock bag and stores for up to 1 year.
- Sesame oil
- Sesame seeds
- Corn starch: or substitute with potato starch
- White Granulated Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup
- Cold water
Expert Tips
- Try to remove as much excess liquid from the tofu block by patting it dry with paper towel. This will create crispier tofu.
- Slice the tofu as thick or thin as you prefer. You could even dice it if you prefer it cubed.
- Prepare your ingredients in advance as the cooking process is fast!
How to make Spicy Gochujang Sesame Tofu
Remove the block of tofu from the package and strain out excess water. Pat tofu dry with clean paper towels to remove excess moisture. Slice tofu into 1 cm thick rectangles (if you prefer them thicker, cut them into ½-inch thick pieces). Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
Heat vegetable oil or any neutral oil in a large pan on medium heat. Once oil is hot, carefully lower tofu slices away from you to prevent oil splash back. Do not overcrowd the pan. You may need to fry in two batches if you’re using a smaller pan.
Fry tofu for 5-7 minutes per side or until golden brown.
Once tofu is golden brown on both sides, pour in sauce in a circular motion to cover the tofu.
Let sauce simmer to thicken, about 30 seconds. Then gently toss the tofu in the sauce.
Garnish with green onions. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat and add a few tablespoons of water to help loosen the sauce.
Other Recipes You May Like!
📖 Recipe
Quick & Easy Spicy Gochujang Sesame Tofu
Ingredients
- 14 oz extra firm tofu
- 1 green onion finely chopped for garnishing
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red chili paste)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ tablespoon cornstarch or sub with potato starch
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar or sub with cane or brown sugar, maple syrup or honey
- ½ teaspoon gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes)
- ½ cup water cold
Instructions
- Remove the block of tofu from the package and strain out excess water. Pat tofu dry with clean paper towels to remove excess moisture. Slice tofu into 1 cm thick rectangles (if you prefer them thicker, cut them into ½-inch thick pieces). Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine sauce ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil or any neutral oil in a large pan on medium heat. Once oil is hot, carefully lower tofu slices away from you to prevent oil splash back. Do not overcrowd the pan. You may need to fry in two batches if you’re using a smaller pan.
- Fry tofu for 5-7 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Once tofu is golden brown on both sides, pour in sauce in a circular motion to cover the tofu.
- Let sauce simmer to thicken, about 30 seconds. Then gently toss the tofu in the sauce.
- Garnish with green onions. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
This really is such a fabulous quick and easy dinner recipe. I loved your idea to use the gochujang as the base!
Laura
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Near my workspace we have a Korean restaurant that has the best Tofu I had ever tasted before (maybe except for the one I ate j. Malaysia) and usually it's sold out quickly. By now I can make a similar tofu by myself and I feel that this tofu is even better, it has just the perfect taste and even my husband who usually doesn't like tofu, likes it 😉
So thanks Christie for this recipe and all the other recipes I love!
christieathome
Thank you Laura for this very kind comment! Reading this really warmed my heart and I'm so thankful for it. I am really glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe of mine along with my others! Also happy that your husband enjoyed it too!!!
Laura
Dear Christie, thanks for this and all of the other may recipes from your blog, so far I loved all of them!
Near my workspace we have a Korean restaurant and they sell the best Tofu I ever tasted (maybe with exception to the tofu I used to eat in Malaysia that is equally good) and unfortunately it is quickly sold out. So it is so nice for me to be able to cook this quite similar and as I feel even better tasting recipe.
Even my husband likes this even though usually he does not like tofu. So great compliments for this recipe and thanks for sharing it 🙂
Suzie D
New to tofu and this recipe sounded good … and it was delicious! Followed recipe exactly and the flavors were on target. My only problem was that I didn’t know what to serve with it.
christieathome
Amazing, thanks so much for making my recipe Suzie! This dish serves well with steamed rice or even noodles and any veggies of your choice!
CG Kennedy
I’ve been trying to figure out how to properly cook tofu, and this was the perfect way to learn! Super simple and sooo delicious and crispy. Just the right balance of subtle spice and nuttiness. I didn’t end up needing a full 20 minutes on each side for my tofu to get crisp, but it probably depends on your stovetop. Will certainly be making this one regularly!
christieathome
Amazing, thanks so much for making my recipe CG and glad you enjoyed it! Also happy to read that it didn't take you the full 20 minutes 🙂 Definitely depends on each one's stove top and the heat intensity. Thanks for sharing this note with me!
Kathy
This was delicious and so easy to make. I used firm tofu.
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe, Kathy! Appreciate the kind review 🙂