Hiyayakko Japanese Cold Tofu Side Dish
Hiyayakko, Japanese cold tofu, is a dish that celebrates simplicity, yet it’s packed with flavour. Whether you keep it classic or explore variations, this chilled tofu dish is sure to become a staple in your kitchen.
Why You’ll Love Our Hiyayakko Japanese Cold Tofu Side Dish
If you’re looking for a light and refreshing side dish, hiyayakko is a perfect choice.
This traditional Japanese dish features silken tofu served chilled with savoury toppings, making it a popular summer appetiser. The simplicity of the dish highlights the natural creaminess of the tofu, while the flavourful toppings elevate it to something truly delicious.
This is one of my daughter’s favourite side dishes! She loves how quick and easy it is to prepare, with no cooking involved. Plus, she can personalise the toppings based on what she’s craving or what we have in the fridge and pantry—kimchi is one of her go-to additions!
Different Types of Tofu
Tofu offers a range of textures for different dishes.
Silken tofu as used in this recipe is the softest and creamy, perfect for soups, desserts, or delicate toppings, while soft tofu works well in stews or smoothies. Firm and extra-firm tofu hold their shape, ideal for stir-fries, grilling, or baking, as they absorb marinades beautifully. Super-firm tofu is dense and hearty, great for slicing into slabs.
Other options include smoked, fried, pressed, dried, and fermented tofu—even dessert varieties! Each type brings unique versatility to our everyday cooking.
If you love to explore different types of tofu, you have to try these recipes spicy tofu skin salad, glass noodle salad with sticky tofu, tofu puff salad with peanut dressing and gochujang chicken with tofu noodle salad.
Recipe Overview
Flavour/Texture: Simple yet balanced, this dish combines creamy silken tofu, sharp minced ginger, salty soy sauce, and umami-rich bonito flakes, with fresh scallions adding a mild bite.
Ease: Hiyayakko requires no cooking with a few simple ingredients, making it one of the easiest dishes you can whip up.
Time: You only need a few minutes of preparation for this silken tofu recipe.
Ingredients
These are the ingredients you need for hiyayakko:
Ginger: Finely grated ginger provides a zingy kick to balance the mildness of the tofu.
Scallions: Fresh, green onions for a subtle crunch and flavour.
Silken tofu: Soft, smooth tofu that melts in your mouth. Available in most large supermarkets and Asian grocery stores, silken tofu will be stored in the cold section.
Soy sauce: Adds a savoury, salty umami punch. Use tamari for a gluten-free dish.
Bonito flakes: Also known as katsuobushi, bonito flakes are thin shavings of dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna. They are often sprinkled on hot foods like okonomiyaki pancake or takoyaki (octopus balls), where they wave and curl due to the heat, creating an appealing presentation. Their smoky, salty flavour elevates everything.
Variations and Substitutions
This is where the fun starts! While the classic Hiyayakko recipe is incredibly simple, you can customise it with different toppings and flavours based on your preferences. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started!
Seaweed: substitute the bonito flakes for rehydrated wakame or thinly sliced nori to create vegan recipe but with flavours of the ocean.
Spicy kick: Your choice of heat! Add a drizzle of chilli crisp oil, wasabi, shichimi togarashi or even kimchi for a spicy version.
Sunomono: You can literally combine cucumber sunomono with hiyayakko for a refreshing side dish. The slightly pickled cucumber works a treat! Just like our Chinese version – silken tofu with fried black beans and pickled cucumber.
Citrus: Try our ponzu dressing or yuzu dressing for a fresh tangy yet savoury flavour.
Furikake: One of favourite pantry staples, furikake adds instant flavour and texture to everything including cold tofu. So many varieties of furikake to choose from as well.
Cooked spinach: Our sesame spinach salad adds not only a nutty flavour but increases protein intake.
Natto: Not everyone’s cup of tea but natto is a popular Japanese fermented soybean dish that totally transforms hiyayakko. Try it for punchy umami soybean flavour.
Instructions
Step by step instructions for how to make hiyayakko:
Finely chop scallion into small rounds and grate ginger.
Remove silken tofu from packaging and place on plate.
Gently pat dry tofu and discard any excess liquid from packaging.
If you are serving individual portions, cut the silken tofu into smaller portions. I normally can get 4 small portions from one 300g packet.
Drizzle soy sauce over tofu.
Top with grated ginger, chopped scallion and bonito flakes to serve.
Alternatively, add your own toppings to create your individual dish.
How to Make This Side Dish Perfectly [Expert Tips]
Draining the tofu: As you leave silken tofu to sit, liquid will come out so be sure to gently pat the tofu dry and drain any excess water, allowing the flavours to better soak in.
Keep it cold: Serve the tofu chilled for the best experience. Refrigerate the tofu before preparing the dish.
Serving size: You can either serve the tofu in small cubes or as a whole block depending on your presentation style.
Great Mains for This Salad
What to serve with Japanese cold tofu? Try these delicious main dish recipes:
A classic Japanese side deserves some classic mains to complete the meal. You simply can’t go wrong with a good old fashion Japanese chicken curry.
For a crisp meal, try this vegetarian friendly tofu katsu don and if you feel like soup based dinner, this
nabeyaki udon is perfect and the ultimate comfort dish of vegetables, noodles and meat.
Hiyayakko is a versatile Japanese side dish that can be served as an appetiser or side with rice, your favourite protein and miso soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is best to use silken or soft tofu for this recipe. The soft creamy texture is what works best. And you can consume it fresh without cooking. I would generally steam regular tofu first before eating. I would not eat regular tofu straight from the packaging.
No, you do not need to cook silken tofu first before serving in this recipe. You can consume silken tofu cold.
Absolutely! Check out all the variations we have listed above. Plus you can create your own version!
Once opened and dressed, it is best to consume silken tofu fresh. I would not leave any leftovers to store in fridge.
Whether you stick to the classic or try your own twist, hiyayakko is always a hit! It’s no wonder we keep multi-packs of silken tofu in the fridge—perfect for quick, healthy, and delicious last-minute dinners!
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Hiyayakko Japanese Cold Tofu Side Dish
Ingredients
- 1 sprig scallion, (spring onion), chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, grated
- 200g silken tofu
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp bonito flakes
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
- Finely chop scallion into small rounds.
- Finely grate ginger.
- Remove silken tofu from packaging and place on plate. Gently pat dry tofu and discard any excess liquid from packaging. If you are serving individual portions, cut the silken tofu into smaller portions and divide the condiments equally as well.
- Drizzle soy sauce over tofu.
- Top with grated ginger, chopped scallion and bonito flakes to serve.
- Alternatively add your own toppings to create your dish.
Notes
- Try your own different toppings to create your own hiyayakko like wakame, nori, wasabi, shichimi togarashi, kimchi, sunomono, ponzu dressing, yuzu dressing, furikake or natto.
- Be sure to gently pat the tofu dry and drain any excess water, allowing the flavours to better soak in.
- Serve the tofu chilled for the best experience.
- You can either serve the tofu in small cubes or as a whole block depending on your presentation style.
Nutrition
*Disclaimer: Nutritional information provided is an estimate only and generated by an online calculator.
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This definitely looks good and will be making it with the tofu I have in my fridge. Yumm
Did you manage to make it? Let us know how you went.