Healthy Japanese Shiraae Recipe (Mashed Tofu Salad)
This Healthy Japanese Shiraae Recipe is a classic Japanese dish made from creamy tofu, soy sauce, miso, and a mixture of vegetables. This vegetarian-friendly dish is healthy and super easy to make. So let’s get started!
Shiraae comes from two different words. Shira means “white” in English and indicates the creamy tofu dressing. The ae is a little more difficult to translate, but roughly means “to mix” or “mixture”. It indicates the different vegetables and other fillers that can be added to the shiraae (mashed tofu salad).
Shiraae is one of the signature dishes from Shojin Ryori, which is a Zen Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. The Buddhist avoid foods that contain animals, birds, and fish. Thus, this typical dish contains plants and tofu.
Tips for Making Healthy Japanese Shiraae Recipe (Mashed Tofu Salad)
- There are various types of tofu. To make this salad, I recommend using firm tofu as opposed to silken or soft tofu. Soft tofu can become mushy and watery; the firm tofu has better texture for this recipe.
- In this recipe, I added spinach and carrots. However, there are various vegetables and ingredients that can be added. These include aburaage, green beans, konjac, and others.
- This side dish can last for about 3-4 days in your refrigerator. However, overtime the texture will gradually worsen as the moisture from the vegetables is mixed with the tofu. I recommend eating it soon after mixing all of the ingredients. If there are leftovers, they are edible, but texture won’t be as good.
- It is really important to remove the moisture from the tofu when making this recipe. I demonstrate how to do this in the video. If made correctly, this dish is very easy to eat and a great way to have your kids get their vegetables!
- Other recipes include using crushed, roasted sesame seeds within the mixture. I highly recommend this if you can find roasted sesame seeds. I had difficulty finding the roasted seeds at local supermarkets, nor do I have a mortal and pestle, so demonstrated how to make the recipe without the roasted sesame seeds.
Japanese Shiraae Recipe (Mashed Tofu Salad)
Ingredients
- 1/2 carrot
- 60 g spinach (2 ounces)
- 400 g tofu (1 lb or 1 pack)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp miso
- 0.25 tsp salt
Instructions
- Finely slice the half carrot as shown in the picture
- Prepare two pots of boiling water; one for the vegetables and one for the tofu
- Add the sliced carrots and spinach into one pot of boiling water and boil for 3-5 minutes
- Add the pack of tofu and boil for 1 minute
- Remove the tofu from the boiling water and wrap in a paper towel. Set-aside for 5 minutes to allow the paper towel to absorb the water.
- Drain the water from the vegetables and allow to cool
- Press the tofu to remove excess water into a bowl
- Cut the spinach leaves into 2-3 cm bite-sized slices
- Remove the paper towel from the tofu and crush the tofu in a mixing bowl with a spatula
- Add the sliced carrots and spinach into the mixing bowl with the tofu
- Add the soy sauce, miso, and salt into the mixing bowl
- Mix everything well, plate and serve. Enjoy!
Video
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