Flashback to the Seventies: Korean Barbecued Tofu

Roasted marinated tofu makes a tasty snack. Photo: Bruce Watson

In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.

In general, tofu is usually a little too bland for my tastes. A few years ago, however, I discovered the joys of marinated, roasted tofu. When well seasoned and cooked, the flavorless white mass becomes a dense dish with the texture of cheese and the taste of ... well, whatever you want to add!

Not long after I started marinating tofu, I decided to try it with a modified version of my mom's Korean barbecue sauce. It was the perfect mix: Simultaneously spicy, sweet and garlicky, the "Tofu-Goki" was great as a hot or cold snack, and made a perfect basis for many Asian dishes, including the Napa cabbage salad that I made last year.

Get the recipe for 'tofu-goki' after the jump.

Before cooking the tofu, it's a good idea to press it. This process squeezes out a lot of the liquid, making it easier for the tofu to absorb the marinade. To do this, place the tofu cakes between two dinner plates and add weight to the top one until the sides of the tofu bulge. After an hour, drain the tofu.

Alternately, if you cook tofu regularly, you may want to use a tofu press. I have a stainless steel "tofu maker" that I bought years ago, which makes the whole process a lot easier. Similar items are available for $15 to $20 on the Web.

Tofu-Goki

2 cakes firm tofu, pressed and dried

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons sesame oil

3/4 cup mild Korean soy sauce

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

4 scallions, finely sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slice the tofu cakes twice from side to side, yielding three large slabs. Stack the slabs and cut into quarters. Cut the quarters in half diagonally, so that each cake yields 24 thin triangles of tofu.

Combine all other ingredients in a 13-inch-by-9-inch baking pan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Arrange the tofu triangles to fit into the pan. This will be a tight fit -- if the triangles can't all squeeze in, either discard some or place them in a separate pan with a proportionate amount of marinade.

Cook for 25 minutes, then carefully flip tofu pieces over, using a rubber spatula. Cook for another 25 minutes and flip again. Continue flipping and cooking until the marinade is completely absorbed. This will probably take between an hour and an hour and a half.

You can serve the marinated tofu hot, or can let it cool. Alternately, leftover marinated tofu, fresh out of the refrigerator, makes a delicious and refreshing snack.