Incredibly cooling and quick to make, this Japanese tofu salad feels like a smooth, creamy popsicle on the palate. Have it in your recipe repertoire for a high protein dish you can make within minutes using simple ingredients.
Known as hiyakko tofu, thisJapanese cold dish consists of silken tofu topped with a few garnishes. Its simplicity that echoes the culture and cuisine of Japan.
I really like serving this dish with Japanese mushroom rice, addictive edamame pods, or a Japanese baked salmon.
Or I usually just eat this on its own when I'm in a hurry.
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Ingredients
Highlight the clean flavors by using the highest quality ingredients possible such as organic tofu and a premium soy sauce.
- Silken tofu - It's very important that you use silken tofu and not regular, medium, or firm tofu.
- Silken tofu is meant to be eaten raw, cold, and without cooking.
- Regular tofu needs to be cooked like vegan scrambled eggs or boiled in a soybean paste soup.
- Edamame beans - Buy these frozen, already shelled. They simply need to be defrosted before using or dunk in hot water for a couple minutes.
- Really good to keep on hand to add protein and any dish that could use a spot of fluorescent green color.
- Seaweed crisps - These are the seaweed paper used for sushi rolls that has been toasted and salted.
- You can make these by hand, or they seem to be sold just about everywhere now and eaten like potato chips.
- Once you open the package, they start to moisten, so don't open the package until you're ready to use.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
A block of silken tofu is like a white canvas you can paint with the ingredient of yoru choice.
Here are some suggestions instead of edamame beans and seaweed crisps:
- Thin slices of cucumber
- Grated fresh ginger
- Pickled ginger - the kind served alongside sushi
- Shredded shiso leaves - Like a Japanese version of basil, these have a peppery, anise flavor
- Cherry tomatoes cut in half
- Corn kernels
- Wakame seaweed - such as used in a seaweed salad
- Sliced shitake mushrooms - sauteed until tender with some soy sauce
- Furikake seasoning - Japanese 7 spice blend that goes well on just about everything including furikake salmon
- Toasted sesame seeds
Non-Vegan substitutions:
- Bonito flakes - These paper thin flakes of dried tuna are used to make dashi stock but make a really nice salty garnish
- Bacon bits? - Definitely not traditional, but they do go on everything
Instructions
This should take all of about 5 minutes and no more than 10 minutes.
- Step 1: It's easiest to put the block of tofu directly on the serving plate. Slice in half, horizontally.
- Step 2: Then cut the tofu into about 1" squares, while maintaining the shape of the block.
- Step 3: At this point, there will be excess liquid from the tofu. Take the chance now to gently tip out the excess water by holding onto to the tofu with your hand or blade of the knife.
- Step 4: Drizzle the sesame oil and soy sauce over the tofu. Then top with the garnishes. Serve immediately.
Hint: Water will continue to drip out of the tofu as it sits. That's ok. But make sure your serving dish has a lip so that liquid doesn't spill off the plate.
Storage
This dish is meant to be eaten right away, since the soy sauce stains the tofu.
However, I have stored the leftovers in the fridge and eaten them within a couple days. (It just doesn't look as pretty.)
Top Tip
Serve with spoons, so you can pick up some of the soy sauce drippings and easily handle the very delicate silken tofu cubes.
More Vegan Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Other Asian Side Dishes
These are my favorite dishes to serve with [this recipe]:
Recipe
Quickest, Coolest Japanese Tofu Salad
Ingredients
- 14 oz silken tofu, aka soft tofu this is 1 block of tofu that comes in a plastic carton
- 2 Tb soy sauce
- 1 Tb sesame oil
- ½ c nori or seaweed crisps cut into ¼" strips or crumbled
- ⅓ c edamame beans
- 1 Tb green onion sliced
Instructions
- Carefully remove the block of soft tofu from packaging without breaking. Cut into bite sized cubes and transfer to serving plate.
- Dress with soy sauce and sesame oil. Garnish with bonito flakes and green onion.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- The silken, also called soft, tofu will continue to leech water as it sits. Cut and plate the tofu just prior to serving.
- This works best with silken tofu. Medium or firm tofu doesn't have the creamy texture and is meant to be cooked rather than eaten cold.
- Slice the green onions as thinly as possible. It will look nicer and match the delicacy of the tofu.
- Serve with spoons, so you can pick up some of the soy sauce drippings and easily handle the very delicate silken tofu cubes.
- Other optional garnishes include grated ginger, edamame, wakame seaweed, thin sliced cucumber, pickled ginger, shiso leaves, cherry tomatoes, corn kernels. For a pescatarian version, use bonito flakes.
- Leftovers are not ideal, since the soy sauce stains the tofu brown. But this dish is still tasty when stored in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Nutrition
Fortune Cookie 🥠
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Susan says
What kind of wakame seaweed do you use? Is it like what’s in seaweed salad? It’s not dried, right?
Thanks.
asiantestkitchen@gmail.com says
Hi Susan! You can use dried nori crisps that are prepackaged and preseasoned with salt. They just need to be crumbled on to the tofu salad. Sample product link here: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Seaweed-Snacks/zgbs/grocery/14864739011
Alternately, you can also use the dried wakame that is rehydrated and then used for seaweed salad. https://www.amazon.com/Wakame-Dried-Seaweed-Ounce-Shirakiku/dp/B0086XRRMW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1FPAHVHAA7HIO&keywords=dried+wakame&qid=1649307493&s=grocery&sprefix=dried+wakame%2Cgrocery%2C130&sr=1-3
Let me know if you have any other questions!