After a weekend trip to Decadentville via Ryunique, I decided I better eat cheap last week and had one of these little scrumptious babies nearly every day. They are so good, you all, and it has been a long journey to tofu meals for me. I used to vehemently hate tofu, even after coming to Korea. I didn’t appreciate the texture, I would compare it to the fatty part of a chicken, and hated when people told me it could, “taste like whatever you cook it with.” Umm…gross.

Slowly but surely I started sampling different tofus, first fried, then in soups, then with kimchi and, after three years or so, I finally developed a taste for it. I’m happy its so versatile now because if you fry it up and add some condiments it makes a flipping AHmazing sandwich! Go crazy with whatever you want to dress it up with because anything will taste good on this sandwich.

The key to Crystal’s perfect tofu sandwich, if you can find it, is Ssamjang. This is a Korean condiment, like a dip, made from gochujang (which is all the rage right now, I see), sesame oil, onions, garlic and some other things. I use it for EVERYthing because I love it so much. It is my “sriracha sauce” craze. But, if you can’t find it, use whatever type of spread you want. Avocados would be amazing as well as just mayo.

Ingredients for one sandwich:

• 1 sliced radish
• snipped handful of chives
• 1 TBS mayonaise
• 1 TBS ssamjang
• 1/2 block of firm tofu
• salt + pepper to taste
• handful of sprouts
• 2 slices of thick bread, toasted
• 1-2 TBS of light oil for frying (I used grapeseed)

Directions:

1. Drain tofu and lightly squeeze dry with paper towels. I know some people squeeze the water from their tofu overnight in a tofu press to fry it up but you really don’t need to for this sandwich. Make 3-4 1/2 inch slices and season one side with salt and pepper.
2. In a hot skillet, add your oil and place tofu in seasoned side down. Season top side. Fry for a few minutes on each side. This part is up to you. If you want it crispy all the way through you will want to add more oil before putting in the tofu and wait longer. If you want it soft inside, just crisp up your edges by frying a 2-3 minutes on each side.
3. Mix your mayo and ssamjang together.
4. Assemble your sandwich!