Shira-ae (Smashed Tofu Salad With Green Beans)

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Updated November 6, 2025

  • Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Brett Regot.
Media 1 of 1
Ready In
20 min
Rating
5(29)
Comments
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Shira-ae is a Japanese side dish of creamy mashed tofu mixed with an umami-rich sesame sauce. The tofu shines in this dish: It’s heavily seasoned with sesame seeds, miso, soy sauce and mirin, then crushed into a creamy, chunky coating that clings to the blanched green beans. Traditionally, toasted sesame seeds are pounded using a Japanese-style mortar and pestle, but you can use any mortar and pestle — or even opt for sesame paste or tahini as a shortcut. The type of tofu matters: Soft (not silken) or medium-firm tofu will give you the creamiest results, but if you can only get firm or extra-firm, you can boil the tofu in water for three minutes, which softens it and delivers a bouncier texture. Make sure to drain the tofu well and pat it dry so it doesn’t make a wet mash. This dish can be prepared 24 hours ahead, stored in the fridge, and is best served cold.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings (about 5 cups)

  • Salt

  • 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

  • ¼ cup toasted white sesame seeds (or sesame paste or tahini)

  • 2 tablespoons white (shiro) miso 

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or shoyu)

  • 2 tablespoons mirin 

  • 1 (14- to 16-ounce) block soft or medium-firm tofu, drained and patted dry 

  • Toasted white sesame seeds, for topping

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

17 grams carbs; 215 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 11 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 777 milligrams sodium; 16 grams protein; 5 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add the green beans and blanch until just tender and bright green, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, refresh under cold water and drain again. When cool, pat the beans dry.

  2. Step 2

    If using sesame seeds, place them in a mortar or spice grinder and grind until powdery. (If you are using sesame paste, you can skip this step.) 

  3. Step 3

    Place the ground sesame seeds into a large bowl and add the miso, soy sauce and mirin, and stir, mashing the miso to combine with the rest of the ingredients. Break up the tofu and add to the sesame mixture, and mash until the tofu is creamy. 

  4. Step 4

    Add the beans to the tofu and toss to coat. Top with sesame seeds. 

  5. Step 5

    Eat immediately or chill for 30 minutes, stirring before serving.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
29 user ratings
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Comments

Cheryl

@WritesSometimes when my Japanese grandma made this she used blanched spinach

Darcie

This was excellent an easy. The change I made: used Miso-Sesame Vinaigrette (NYT) which I already had made, 1/2 cup, plus 2 Tablespoons mirin instead of the dressing listed.

JJ

@WritesSometimes No. Tofu is a plant-based, dairy-free, and low-fat protein made from soy milk. Paneer is a dairy-based, high-fat, and calorie-dense cheese.

MargotwithaT

Crowd favourite. Used tahini for creaminess and substituted sake for mirin. Saved about a third of the sauce for frying beans first (instead of steaming), then used the rest for the tofu mix to evenly distribute sauce flavour (thx AND in CDMX). Started with oil, mustard seeds, a bit of garlic. When garlic was golden, added beans and cooked until the beans were slightly tender. Then added the tofu sauce and stirred until everything was heated through. Beans were just right.

AND in CDMX

I cook a lot of tofu dishes (many from this site), but this one was not a keeper for me. But I have a suggestion. The flavorful sauce all gets absorbed into the tofu, leaving none for the green beans. Also, even though I cooked the green beans to the upper time suggested, they still felt undercooked. Try cooking the green beans a minute longer. Then toss them into the sauce to coat, and only then crumble in the tofu and mix it all. This will give the green beans some flavor the lacked from the order of operations suggested by the recipe.

AND in CDMX

@WritesSometimes This is a substantially-tofu recipe with few ingredients. It doesn't seem like a good idea to substitute the main ingredient.

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