Bulgogi-Style Tofu

By Sam Sifton

Updated November 7, 2023

  • Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredient list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

Here's the prompt: bulgogi-style tofu. It’s simple. Press some firm tofu to extract as much liquid as you can. Make a marinade of soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, minced garlic, grated ginger, a spoonful of gochujang, a splash of neutral oil, some sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds. Slice the tofu into bite-size cubes, and slide them into the marinade. Let that sit — a half-hour works; a few hours works better. Then roast them in a hot oven on an oiled foil-lined pan until they’re crisp. Serve with bibb lettuce cups to wrap them in, with rice, kimchi and a dipping sauce of ssamjang and a little bit more gochujang thinned out with neutral oil and sherry vinegar. (If not, go with sesame oil and ground white pepper.) That’s a fine dinner.

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DG

Here’s the proportions that I used, which fits my preferred flavor palate- 1/4 cup soy sauce 2 tbsp gochujang 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp canola oil 1/2 tsp sesame oil 1 clove of garlic 1 inch ginger Sesame seeds sprinkled in

AH

To get the tofu extra crispy, after marinading, toss in 2-3tbsp cornstarch and either roast or airfry at 400 for 15-17 min.

Laura S.

For those wanting recipe amounts, in the third sentence of the introduction the word bulgogi is underlined. This is a link to a marinade recipe. Here Sam uses tofu instead of the beef and leaves out the Asian pear and onion. This recipe is what I used for amounts. Enjoy!

Alan

So clearly tofu is an ingredient. Maybe define bulgogi to give us a hint as how to proceed. Or we just have to work from the picture.

al

Something has gone wrong with this recipe. Previously after the one-paragraph intro there were a couple more paragraphs describing what to do. They are no longer there! I guess now it's REALLY a no-recipe recipe. And a memory test!

kprcps

Yield: 4 servings 1pound well-marbled, boneless sirloin, tenderloin or skirt steak 4large garlic cloves 1cup peeled, chopped ripe Asian or Bosc pear ¾cup finely chopped onion 1teaspoon finely chopped ginger 1scallion, chopped 2tablespoons soy sauce 1tablespoon roasted sesame oil 1tablespoon light brown sugar or honey ½teaspoon black pepper ½teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

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