Cold Tofu Seaweed Chile Crisp

Name: Cold Tofu Seaweed Chile Crisp
Prep time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 block soft tofu (19 ounces); ¼ pound ocean salad; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon chile crisp

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A great appetizer or side dish, cold tofu is extra wonderful on hot days. Cold Tofu Seaweed Chile Crisp is seasoned with pantry ingredients and takes only 5 minutes to make. Best part? No cooking involved!

Super simple and super delicious! I made this for dinner last night and served it with homemade wontons and big side of choy sum.

It was a happy hit at the table. I don't know why we don't eat ocean salad / seaweed salad more often. It is very refreshing in the summer, and doubly so when paired with soft, cold tofu.

Cold Tofu Seaweed Chile Crisp newspaper article.

This recipe is from the Honolulu Star Advertiser! Lynette Lo Tom wrote a great article and recipe titled, This Tofu's Tasty in the 2024/09/09 edition.

Her article was in the Crave insert which appears every Wednesday. It features local food info, reivews, and news, plus recipes. Crave feels very "only in Hawaii" which makes me happy.

The dish sounded super good, and I went to market to get all the ingredients the same day. It tastes even better than it looks. I adjusted the recipe, but kept all the core ingredients and concept. Ocean salad on soft tofu, who knew! Simple and a definite keeper.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need:

Soft tofu - If you're in Hawaii, this is one of the most popular brands and it comes in a 19 ounce container. Elsewhere, the "House" brand is more common and comes in 14 ounce containers. Both sizes work since this is a flexible recipe. Use a little less of the seasonings if you're using a smaller block of tofu.
Ocean salad - Also knowns as seaweed salad. We can get this at all Japanese markets. In Hawaii, you can find it at pretty much all markets including Costco! I got the ocean salad pictured in this post from Foodland.
Soy sauce - Use any brand you like. These are the two most common in Hawaii.
Sesame oil - This is a good everyday brand, easy to find, tasty, and affordable.
Chile crisp - I love chile crisp (like everyone else haha). There are so many brands and each time we finish a jar, we like to try a new brand...they are each great in their own way. If you're looking for a local brand, Maui Chili Chili Oil is awesome and can be found at many markets in Hawaii.

Instructions

Let's assemble!

Open and drain tofu.

Place the whole block of tofu in a big shallow bowl or plate with rims. We're going to top it with seasonings/sauce, so you just don't want a super flat or rimless plate.

If you have extra time (which I usually don't), I let the tofu sit in the bowl for 5-10 minutes to let all the extra liquid drain. But if not, just proceed with the recipe.

Arrange the ocean salad on top of the tofu.

Then top with the soy sauce and sesame oil. Just spoon or drizzle it all over.

Spoon the chile crisp in the center. Then it is ready to eat! Scoop and enjoy.

Top Tip

Think of this recipes more as a guideline / idea, as opposed to a recipe that you need to tightly follow. The basic idea is: ocean salad on top of cold, soft tofu.

From there, tailor as you please. I used less soy sauce and more sesame oil than the original recipe in the newspaper. I love chile crisp, so I added more of that.

As long as you have all these basic ingredients, you can easily change the ratios to your own tastes.

FAQ

How long does this dish keep?

I like to eat it as soon as you make it. Because it only takes 5 minutes to make, it's truly a dish you can pull together at the very last minute. Leftovers will keep for a day, though it's truly best "fresh" and chilled.

What else can you do with ocean salad / seaweed salad?

Make Somen Stuffed Aburage! The ocean salad gets all tangled and tossed with somen noodles and stuffed into aburage (seasoned fried tofu pouches). Super good.

Other dishes using soft tofu?

Hot Sesame Oil Tofu is one of my favorite ways to enjoy soft tofu. Here's another quick and easy option. And if you want it hot, try steaming the tofu.

And if I have a nice and ripe avocado, this is what I make.

Any fellow century egg lovers? Make this!