Tofu and Mushroom Jorim (Soy-Braised Tofu)

Delicious with these small adds: TOFU: Press tofu to release excess water. Cut in 1" x .5" squares (1" cubes are too thick & don't absorb as much flavor). Brown tofu squares on both sides in light oil in non-stick pan SAUCE: +1 TBS sesame oil, +1 TBS mirin, +1 TBS gochugaru or red pepper chili flakes. ASSEMBLE: Add shiitakes to tops of browned tofu squares in the pan & scoop sauce on top of each & add remaining sauce to pan. Cover & simmer 5 min, then +2 min w/o lid to thicken sauce.

Two notes, both respectfully in disagreement with popular recommendations: please try the recipe mostly as is and do not roast, sear, or otherwise cook pressed tofu. Braising porous tofu will invite the sauce to penetrate each piece; once glazed, both tofu and shiitakes were perfect. Second, if you have kimchi and stubby brown rice, the short list of ingredients is enough. Kimchi is essential and the simplicity of the dish is one of its strengths. Make a green side to go with. PS do DB sauce.

A delicious quick and easy meal. I added a bit of special fish sauce I brought back from Korea to give it some extra umami, and it was a hit with the family!

I found this recipe lacking in many ways. When I give it another shot, I'll add some gochujang, a touch of sesame oil, and possibly switch to regular soy sauce vs low sodium. Also, this is in desperate need of something with a 'bite' or 'crunch' if you don't have kimchi on hand.

My understanding is that ‘jorim’ means braised and the tofu is supposed to be a softer texture that soaks up the sauce, so I did press the tofu to get out so much extra water first but didn’t fry or bake it. I doubled the amount of mushrooms, and used a mix of shiitake, baby king oyster, and cremini. I also added some sugar snap peas. For the sauce, I doubled the number of scallions to 4, and added a dash of unseasoned rice wine vinegar. It came out fabulous!

Sauce benefited from a long simmer. Added some parboiled bok choy and carrots with mushrooms and tofu. Added a squirt of gochujang.

This was a knockout, 5-star, umami-packed bowl of deliciousness. I made the recipe as written (except I used oyster mushrooms cause that was what I had). Absolutely delicious. Took a bit longer than 15 minutes to reduce the sauce, but it was my fault as I kept the lid on the pot at first. Served it with a broccoli banchan, kimchi, and rice. Make this!!!

We really liked this and will make again. I doubled the recipe, used more affordable, brown Crimini mushrooms, & a combination of soy sauces (regular, dark mushroom soy sauce, and Lucky Boy sweet soy sauce) because they're what I had on hand, and for added flavor. I found that it needed to be cooked more like 30 minutes for sauce to become anything like a glaze (but having doubled the recipe, my pan was crowded). Definitely serve with rice and kimchi, and plenty of extra scallions for topping.

As one person said, it needs a “crunch”. The way it is is like eating baby food. I did it 2 ways…used ex firm tofu, and added chopped water chestnuts. Greatly improved the experience. The next method, I used peanuts. That gave it a bit of Kung Pao crunch and texture. I also used white pepper and black vinegar to give it a little hot and sour bite. Lots of ways to dress it up, it’s a personal choice, but it’s original recipe was too mushy for me.

you'd be able to use anything that benefits from a quick braise here—cabbage, potatoes, shishito peppers, carrots, or even hard-boiled eggs come to mind. whole cremini or sliced portobello mushrooms would certainly work well. the spirit of jorim is in the sauce!

I added a tablespoon of Gochuhang and a tad bit of sesame oil, and used full sodium organic soy sauce. Delish!

Was this ever good and EASY! The only thing I did was double the pepper because we love pepper! Bought already sliced shiitake mushrooms for even easier prep. I really appreciate recipes where the results are definitely greater than the sun of it's parts... This was one of them.

We didn't have low soy sauce, so used the regular type--and was very salty. For regular soy sauce, maybe use dilute with water.

Loved this easy dish. I cut garlic to 2 clove, ginger to 1/2 inch piece and substituted 1 T. molasses for sugar, cut oil in half, using 1/3 tsp.sesame oil and used sweet onion because I didn't have scallions. I added chili garlic sauce for more kick. Will make this again.

This prevents the tofu from absorbing the flavor. Keep it simple.