When side dishes are lacking, the dish that comes to mind is braised tofu.

Strangely enough, braised tofu is excellent at being a rice thief.

Especially when the savory tofu absorbs the salty yet slightly spicy seasoning, a bowl of rice disappears in no time.

When I was young, I thought, "What flavor does tofu have?" but as I get older, haha, it tastes even better.

Especially when you place a piece of tofu on hot rice and mix in a bit of the seasoning sauce, it's exquisite.

First, cut a block of tofu into thick slices that are easy to eat.

If it's too thin, it may break during cooking, so it's best to maintain a suitable thickness.

Place the sliced tofu on a kitchen towel to remove excess moisture.

After removing the moisture, sprinkle a little salt for seasoning, which will make the tofu firmer and help the seasoning absorb better later.

Now, prepare the seasoning sauce. Add 3 tablespoons of chopped green onion and half a tablespoon of minced garlic.

The key to braised tofu is not skimping on the green onion. When there's plenty of green onion, the aroma improves and the seasoning flavor becomes much smoother.

Add 1 tablespoon of red pepper powder, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, half a tablespoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and mix well.

Heat a pan and add a bit more cooking oil than usual. Then, place the moisture-removed tofu in the pan and fry it until golden brown on both sides.

It's best not to flip it too often. Once one side is sufficiently cooked, flip it to maintain its shape and achieve a crispy texture.

When the tofu is golden all over, use a spoon to evenly distribute the prepared seasoning sauce over the tofu.

Then, add about a quarter cup of water to the bowl that held the seasoning sauce to scrape up any remaining sauce and pour it into the pan.

Set the heat to medium and spoon the broth over the tofu.

Flip the tofu occasionally to braise it in the sauce. As time passes, the seasoning seeps into the tofu, and the broth begins to shine.

Finally, when the broth has reduced to a suitable amount, it's complete. The outside is golden, the inside is soft tofu, and the salty, umami-rich seasoning blends perfectly in the braised tofu.

If you have a block of tofu in the fridge tonight, be sure to give this a try. You'll definitely find yourself opening the rice cooker lid one more time.