Recipe & Video: Tofu Teriyaki Sandwich

Quick, healthy, and bursting with flavor. This recipe for tofu teriyaki sandwiches is both vegetarian and loaded with Umami. Learn how to do it right with our easy-to-follow recipe and all of our cooking tips here.

Who says snacking can’t be healthy? With our authentic Japanese food recipe, you can make this fast and easy healthy sandwich whenever you are hungry. Our recipe uses tofu, carrot, and green pepper sautéed with sweet and savory teriyaki sauce for a flavor-packed fix that will soon become your favorite. Works great as a quick lunch or as an afternoon meal to hold the hungry friends and family over until dinner. Because it is also meat-free, you can also use this recipe to whip up a vegetarian meal whenever the need arises.

How to Cook with Tofu

Cooking with tofu is more of an art than a science, and it differs significantly from most meat cooking approaches. First of all, it’s crucial to drain and then press the tofu before cooking it. This step makes sure it doesn’t turn soggy and stays nice and firm. Anyone who has ever had soggy tofu can tell you why that is so important!

The next important issue when cooking with tofu is the marination. This is why those tofu-based dishes in the Japanese restaurant taste so amazing. Japanese chefs and home cooks know that plain tofu can be rather bland, but that it is the perfect substance for soaking up an umami flavor-rich marinade. You can marinate the tofu before or after cooking, but with this recipe, we have you marinate it in teriyaki after it has been cooked.

Another fantastic trick that adds even more flavor to your tofu is searing spices and seasonings right into it as you cook. This works best if you coat the tofu with corn starch first, which gives it crust that these flavoring ingredients can be seared right into. The more you experiment with tofu, especially in terms of marinades and searing seasonings into it, the more you are going to love cooking with it!

About Teriyaki Sauce

You have probably had teriyaki sauce many times, but do you actually know what’s in it? You might be surprised to learn that it’s pretty simple and quite easy to make at home. We have an easy recipe for you right here that is based on just four ingredients: mirin, sake, brown sugar, and soy sauce. All of these ingredients are easy to find at Asian groceries or online and wait until you taste the difference between a homemade teriyaki sauce and a store-bought one. We bet that you will soon be putting it on much more than just this sandwich recipe!

Cooking Tips for Tofu Teriyaki Sandwich:

• Adding cabbage or lettuce will make this sandwich healthier and lighter.
• When choosing tofu, pick a medium or hard one. Those are easier to cook with.

Ingredients

• 4 slices Bread
• 2 slices Yellow Cheese
• ½ Cucumber
• 1 Tbsp Mayo
• ½ package Tofu (6 oz)
• 1 tsp Katakuri Powder (Potato Starch)
• Rice Bran Oil, for cooking

Vegetables

• ½ Carrot
• 1 Small Green Pepper
• Lettuce Leaves
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Soy Sauce
• ½ tsp Sesame Seeds

Sauce

• 1.5 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sake
• 1 Tbsp Mirin
• 1 Tbsp Sugar

Instructions

1. Open a package of tofu and cut the tofu in half. Take out the half and wrap it in paper towel (the recipe only uses half a package of tofu, but you can double the recipe and cook the entire package).
2. Place the wrapped tofu on a microwavable plate and microwave it for 1 and a half minute.
3. In the meantime, julienne carrot, green pepper, and cucumber.
4. In a frying pan, cook carrot and green pepper with oil over high heat, until tender. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, and ½ teaspoon of sesame seeds. Set them aside.
5. Mix all the ingredients of the “sauce” in a small bowl. Set it aside.
6. Remove the kitchen paper from tofu and cut into 4 slices. Sprinkle katakuri powder.
7. Heat a different frying pan over high heat with an ample amount of cooking oil. Place tofu and cook until lightly browned on both sides.
8. Once both sides are browned, turn off the heat. Pour in the prepared sauce and marinade. Set it aside.
9. Toast bread.
10. Place one piece of bread on a plate. On top, place one slice of yellow cheese, cucumber, mayo, 2 slices of tofu with the sauce, carrots, green peppers, and lettuce leaves, and sandwich it all together with the other piece of bread.