Delicious and simple oven-baked teriyaki tofu with homemade teriyaki sauce! Learn how to make this versatile teriyaki sauce and this simple tofu dish with step-wise pictures!
Who doesn’t like simple sauce recipes that are so versatile? I always do, and this teriyaki sauce is one among them.
Teriyaki-
Teriyaki is a cooking technique or style widely used in Japanese cuisine. In the US, teriyaki refers to the sauce. Teriyaki is a combination of two words – Teri + yaki. Teri means luster/shine, and yaki means to grill or broil. The shiny soy sauce with mirin gives that glossy shine to the grilled dishes.
The teriyaki sauce is mainly made with soy sauce, and mirin and some versions use sake also. It’s a sweet and salty sauce that is mostly used as a marination sauce. But I love to mix my rice and noodles with this sauce as well. I am testing out some new recipes; I will share them soon.
Teriyaki sauce-
Now coming to the sauce, I adapted this recipe from the book “Peas and Thank You” by Sarah Matheny. The original recipe calls for mirin, but I used rice vinegar instead of mirin and added more sugar. Mirin is a popular condiment used in Japanese cuisine, and it is like rice wine but sweet and less sour.
The most common substitute is rice vinegar. That’s what I did but added little extra sugar to compensate for the sourness.
I won’t call my sauce as the authentic teriyaki sauce but works well. Once the sauce is ready, you can marinate your veggies, tofu, and broil them or grill. Or add the sauce to your rice or noodles and add some steamed vegetables to whip a quick meal.
I have always made the sauce fresh and used it right away. But it should stay good for five days when refrigerated. Make sure you cool it down completely before storing it.
Teriyaki tofu-
For this teriyaki tofu, I used extra-firm tofu. I marinated it for just 30 minutes and broiled it in the oven. I went with a minimum of marination time. But you can marinate it overnight also.
Extra-firm tofu works well for this recipe. I have tried with the firm tofu as well, but I highly recommend the extra-firm tofu. Make sure you press the tofu well and remove the water as much as you can.
What if the oven doesn’t have broil mode-
Now, if you don’t have a broil option on your oven, make sure you move your oven rack to the top and set the oven temperature to the maximum and bake it. The oven temperature at high-broil mode is 550 deg F. I broiled this tofu for 12 minutes. So, according to your oven temperature, you can adjust the timing. We want firm and crispy tofu, and that’s what we are looking for here. For crispier tofu, increase the temperature.
Now let’s see how to make this teriyaki tofu-
Pressing the tofu-
- I don’t have a separate tofu presser. I remove the tofu from the box and discard the excess liquid. And place a heavy object on top and let it sit for 30 to 45 minutes. I then cut into cubes or bite-sized pieces.
Preparing the teriyaki sauce-
- In a saucepan, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, sugar, and 4 tbsps of water and let it simmer.
- Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch in 2 tbsps of water. When the soy sauce mixture simmers, add this cornstarch slurry and cook until the sauce thickens. Then turn off the heat. The teriyaki sauce is now ready. Let it cool.
Marinate the tofu-
- I added my tofu cubes directly in the saucepan with teriyaki sauce and let it marinate for 30 minutes. The sauce is sufficient for 16 oz tofu block as well.
Broil the tofu-
- Line a baking tray with food-grade aluminum foil and grease with oil lightly. Place the marinated tofu on the tray.
- Preheat the oven in the high-broil mode. Broil the marinated tofu for 6 minutes on each side till it becomes firm and crispy. Hee is the tofu after 6 minutes.
- Flipped tofu after 6 minutes.
- Broil again for 6 more minutes. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top and serve warm. I also made a curry (Thai-style watermelon rind curry) to go with it.
Recipe Notes-
- Instead of rice vinegar, you can use mirin. In that case, reduce the sugar amount to 3 tbsps.
- I recommend brown sugar, but you can use your choice and adjust it according to your preference.
- Ginger and garlic add a subtle flavor, and I went with an equal amount, as suggested in the original recipe. But adjust the proportion according to your taste.
- Marinate the tofu for a minimum of 30 minutes, but you can marinate up to 8 hours.
- Do not broil the tofu for more than 15 minutes. Please check the post if your oven doesn’t have a broil option.
Other tofu recipes-
- Tofu quiche
- Red curry with tofu
- Vegan tofu and tomato curry
- Broccoli and tofu stirfry
- Yellow curry with tofu
- Kung pao tofu
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Teriyaki Tofu With Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml;1tsp=5ml;
- 12 oz extra firm tofu
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar check recipe notes
- 1 tsp garlic grated
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 6 tbsp water divided (4 tbsp + 2 tbsp)
- 1 tsp oil to great the baking pan
- 2 tsp white sesame seeds toasted
Instructions
Pressing the tofu-
- I don't have a separate tofu presser. I remove the tofu from the box and discard the excess liquid. And place a heavy object on top and let it sit for 30 to 45 minutes. I then cut into cubes or bite-sized pieces.
Preparing the teriyaki sauce-
- In a saucepan, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, sugar, and 4 tbsps of water and let it simmer.
- Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch in 2 tbsps of water. When the soy sauce mixture simmers, add this cornstarch slurry and cook until the sauce thickens. Then turn off the heat. The teriyaki sauce is now ready. Let it cool.
Marinate the tofu-
- I added my tofu cubes directly in the saucepan with teriyaki sauce and let it marinate for 30 minutes. The sauce is sufficient for 16 oz tofu block as well.
Broil the tofu-
- Line a baking tray with food-grade aluminum foil and grease with oil lightly. Place the marinated tofu on the tray.
- Preheat the oven in the high-broil mode. Broil the marinated tofu for 6 minutes on each side till it becomes firm and crispy. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on top and serve warm.
Notes
- Instead of rice vinegar, you can use mirin. In that case, reduce the sugar amount to 3 tbsps.
- I recommend brown sugar, but you can use your choice and adjust it according to your preference.
- Ginger and garlic add a subtle flavor, and I went with an equal amount, as suggested in the original recipe. But adjust the proportion according to your taste.
- Marinate the tofu for a minimum of 30 minutes, but you can marinate up to 8 hours.
- Do not broil the tofu for more than 15 minutes. Please check the post if your oven doesn't have a broil option.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2015 but now updated with new pics, and recipe cards.
