The visit to Japan recently was a dream come true. Being a solo traveller was an entirely new experience. I did enjoy every bit of the cultural significance, the innumerable tori gates, the mesmerising gardens of Sakura and the uninterrupted view Mt.Fuji.
Yet, visiting a Japanese restaurant makes me a bit sceptical. The vegetarian choices are the ones which make me think twice. I was happy when the receptionist at the hotel wrote me a little note to list out what I don’t eat, in Japanese so I could use it easily at the restaurants. It mainly had the words for meat, fish, dashi(fish sauce) and bonito flakes (cured fish flakes) with a huge “No Eat” and this little note helped me immensely through my ten days.
I love the umami flavours. Very often I choose a simple soba noodle or onigiri to save myself. This time I was recommended to try the cold tofu salad…Have to say, it was so creamy and delicious I would have probably eaten half the block shamelessly.
I quickly made up my mind to try this at home. So here it is the Japanese style cold tofu salad with the yummiest ever dressing. This currently tops my list of hassle-free cooking. It’s also easy and quick to make. Moreover, it is easily digestible with a good amount of proteins.
The toppings for this could vary based on your taste… It could be finely grated Daikon radish, boiled corn kernels, tomatoes, thin strips of nori, cucumber diced and sesame seeds
Combos to try
To have as a combo meal, pair this cold tofu salad up with a bowl of soba with a scallion sauce and warm stir-fried bok choy or a bowl of veggie tempura and sunomono.
Check this easiest recipe for Soba noodles with scallion sauce and sunomono here.
Hope you enjoy this combo as much as I do.
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See you soon
Hiyayakko
Japanese cold tofu salad
Ingredients
main ingredient
- 250g block silken tofu ( fresher the better)
Vinaigrette
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
toppings
- 1 tbsp green onion finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp fried onion
- sprouts as needed
- 1/2 tsp daikon finely grated
Instructions
- Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette and set aside.
- Wash and slice the tofu and pile on a bowl od add to individual bowls to serve
- Pour the vinaigrette over the tofu and top with toppings of choice.
- Serve cold with soba noodles, sunomono, tempura and stirfried bokchoy.
Notes
Use silken tofu only as the texture of silken tofu is the best for this salad.
Nutrition
Calories: 45kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 3gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 226mgPotassium: 22mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 0.2g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
What a helpful receptionist. Yesterday hubby felt like having sushi in Thailand! We entered a Japanese restaurant and I had cold soba noodles with chili oil! I was surprised how they served the noodles on a bed of ice. I didn’t try the dressing as I was not sure if it had any fish in it. As for the tofu salad, looks so delicious and I would love to try it.
The receptionist was so helpful, the poeple in Japan are exceptional. the recipe is very simple flavours and I love that when I travelled. Cold soba is exceptional when I tried, that too handmade and fresh was amazing. So glad you tried as well. I have one recipe on the blog, do try the scallion sauce cold soba.
Japanese style cold salad made with silken tofu sounds yummy. Travelling solo is such an amazing experience.
True, being vegetarian is sometimes difficult to deal with but good you tried something new.
Thanks for sharing.
Looks so creamy and delicious! Your post reminded me of my trip to Japan! Thoroughly enjoyed everything there especially the sushi! Beautiful recreation dear of tofu salad Japanese style!
This looks so elegant and I like the combination of flavors and textures. True finding vegetarian food while traveling can be so challenging . Great that you met a helpful person, Seema.
This cold salad looks and sounds great. Must be quite an experience traveling solo, so much fun!